Memorabilia on the bulletin board in Russ' repair shop reveals that the story takes place after a six-decades-long war between the US and China.
Adapted from the short story "Saying Goodbye to Yang" by Alexander Weinstein, which is included in the author's 2016 collection, "Children of the New World."
The home of the family was based on mid-century "California Modern" structures developed by Joseph Eichler. In fact, one of Eichler homes just outside of New York City in suburban Rockland County, the only three built on the East Coast, was used by production team by completely renovating the house in the process of prepping it for a tight 29-day shoot.
There's a passage from Walker Percy's "The Moviegoer" that has always stayed with filmmaker Koganada: "The search is what anyone would undertake if he were not sunk in the everyday-ness of his own life. To become aware of the search is to be onto something. Not to be onto something is to be in despair." The filmmaker explains, "I found myself returning to this idea as I was writing and making After Yang, especially as it related to the father, who is struggling to feel connected to this world."
Costumes by designer Arjun Bhasin were designed to indicate a shift away from synthetics, toward sustainability and renewable materials. In fact, none of the clothes that were worn by actors had any plastic material.