[1] She Monkeys was produced as part of the Swedish Film Institute's Rookie Project, which provided financial support for which only debuting feature-film directors are eligible.

Inspirations for the film included a picture of Shirley Temple and the 1928 novella Story of the Eye by George Bataille.

[2] Alissa Simon of Variety called the film "one of the most intense and complex feature debuts to come from Sweden since Lukas Moodysson's Show Me Love", and wrote: "Aschan's provocative visual language links pleasure and pain as she focuses on the arousing nature of unpleasant things.

Carefully framed compositions that are near cliche (a father cuddling his child, a babysitter helping a youngster with tooth brushing) take on fresh significance.

... Just as remarkably, Aschan draws convincing, naturalistic performances from her young non-pro actors while putting them in highly charged situations.