The movie is based on the Norwegian movie Head Above Water (1993). Nils Gaup, director of the original, said about it: "Twice Hollywood has remade my films, and both times they have managed to make the worst movie ever." The other movie being Pathfinder (2007).
In the original Norwegian version, Head Above Water (1993), the female main character (Lene Elise Bergum) was topless for at least half of the movie. This was not the case in the Hollywood version.
Mo the bird is a crested caracara, a species of falcon indigenous to Mexico.