The Decoy was initially planned as a short film based on a 35 page script. At the end of principal photography, they ended up with a 70-minute movie, mostly due to the amount of time needed to show the reactions of the main character, who is mute.
The original goal was for a concise film derived from a 35-page script, but the requirement to illustrate the silent protagonist's emotional responses led to an expanded feature-length movie.