It stars Nickola Shreli, who also wrote and produced, as a landlord who is forced to resort to increasingly desperate measures to pay off his debts to banks, a loan shark, and a local mob boss.

In her apartment, Martini finds enough money to put his daughter back in a private Catholic school and make payments to both the bank and the loan shark.

Bader agreed, and the film was financed through the life savings of Shreli and Ele Bardha, who played the loan shark Pete Cantor.

The part of mob boss Dino went uncast until a week before principal photography, when Stivi Paskoski auditioned from a cell phone.

Bader wanted to emphasize the role of religion and theme of redemption in the film, but he said audiences can see these ideas by reading between the lines.

Bader's character, the drug grower Kush, was originally intended to be more ambiguous and unpredictable while still being the closest thing to a friend that Martini has.

DeFore describes the writing as giving justifiable circumstances for Martini's actions, and says the film's Eastern European antagonist is more credible than his counterparts.

[8] Ken Jaworowski of The New York Times selected it as an NYT Critics' Pick and wrote that the film is brutal and gritty, but its authenticity mirrors the unpleasantness of real life.

[9] Serena Donadoni wrote in The Village Voice, "Cash Only features many familiar action movie markers, but it's distinguished by a raw energy and strong sense of place.