It is based on Mýrin, a 2000 novel written by Arnaldur Indriðason and released in English as Jar City.

Kormákur is in the midst of producing an English-language remake, also called Jar City, which will be set in Louisiana.

Working through, he finds it linked to neurofibromatosis, a rare disease among Nordics.

Like the book on which it is based, the film is implicitly a semi-critique of the gene-gathering work of the Icelandic company deCODE genetics.

Track listing: Incidental music: Extract from George Frideric Handel's "The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba" from the oratorio Solomon The film was awarded the 2007 Crystal Globe Grand Prix at the 42nd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.