The film was announced in September 2020 as Lockdown, with Doug Liman directing a screenplay that Steven Knight had written that July over a dare.

Chiwetel Ejiofor, Ben Stiller, Lily James, Stephen Merchant, Dulé Hill, Jazmyn Simon, and Mark Gatiss were also announced as cast members.

Due to the limited resources and short production window the order of several scenes needed to be adjusted, forcing Hathaway and Ejiofor to tape their un-memorized lines around set.

The website's critics consensus states, "Locked Down combines a heist caper, a relationship drama, and pandemic-era timeliness to produce a film that's frustratingly less than the sum of its parts.

[12] David Ehrlich of IndieWire gave the film a B and wrote: "Yes, Locked Down is a heist movie, though one that's more concerned with 'stealing back the things that you feel life owes you than it is with priceless jewels... COVID-19 serves as a fitting backdrop for an amiable romp about the freedoms we take for granted, and the confines that dictated our lives long before we were forced to spend them at home.

"[13] Nick Allen of RogerEbert.com gave the film 2 out of 4 stars, writing that "in spite of the available chemistry and charisma from Hathaway and Ejiofor, Locked Down proves to be a bewildering mess.