Betty Waters says "The movie is so true to life. Not every scene happened, but every emotion happened."
Screenwriter Pamela Gray spent eight years on the project. The project was on, then off in 2004 when Universal pulled the plug. In 2007 independent financing was found, and Hilary Swank, Sam Rockwell, and Minnie Driver agreed to the low budget effort.
The movie was nearly 10 years in development.
Hilary Swank didn't meet her real-life character Betty Anne Waters until just before the filming began. She says she wanted to get into the character, not just mimic someone.
Although the family of the murder victim Katharina Brow requested a meeting with producer/star Hilary Swank, that has not happened. They have hired Gloria Allred with intention to sue Swank for not consulting them or putting their mother "in a better light."