 The story is inspired by the 1956 John Ford film "The Searchers", although co-director Zacharias Kunuk discarded the original's plot about conflicts between white people and indigenous peoples, instead using only Inuit characters.Kunuk explained racism was not an intended theme of the film, though given the time setting, the Inuit would have some items received from white people, as there were trading posts then.Kunuk said he watched western films in the Igloolik community hall as a boy, and declared "The Searchers" star John Wayne "was our hero."