[1][2] It was adapted and written by Ricky Lee from the legal story "To Take a Life" by Teresa Añover Rodriguez and produced by Benjamin G. Yalung.

Set in the 1930s, during the American colonial era, it tells the story of a newly-wed couple Narcing (Phillip Salvador) and Puring (Cecille Castillo) who arrive from Manila in the town of Mulawin, a place filled with violent and tragic pasts, a place likened to Hell by its storyteller, played by Charito Solis.

Settling in Mulawin, they will witness misfortunes and violence, including rape, incest, parricide, and tyranny perpetrated by the cruel Gusting (Vic Silayan).

These films depicted the feminist issues and concerns, complete with the use of backdrops and metaphors related to the Martial Law era.

A middle-aged woman, acting as the narrator, tells a long but violent and tragic story about her mother's life in a town that is only one step ahead of Hell.

The production of Karnal began when director Marilou Diaz-Abaya received a mysterious telephone call from someone going by the name "M-7", asking her if she agreed to do another film project.

Soon after, Marilou Diaz-Abaya, accompanied by her husband Manolo Abaya, met Ben Yalung and his friend, actress Cecille Castillo, who had previously starred in Lino Brocka's Cain at Abel (1982) at a dinner in a restaurant.

[7] Ricky Lee, the director's screenwriting collaborator in Brutal and Moral, began to create a screenplay after he was informed of Cecille Castillo's perfect period-era looks and used the legal story of Añover-Rodriguez as its basis.

[7] Fiel Zabat, the film's production designer, first studied the old paintings that were still hung at the house of Diaz-Abaya's parents to get the period-era feeling.

[2] Torre, who prepared for the role of deaf-mute Goryo by doing exercises and bodybuilding, was brought by Abaya and taught how to burn and then, gather the charcoal.

[2] For the birthing scene, the crew used boiled chicken intestines (added with maple syrup) to look like a real placenta that Goryo cut with his mouth.

According to ABS-CBN Film Archives head Leo P. Katigbak, the restoration of Karnal was discontinued when technicians spotted some defects in its acquired copy.

[8] The film's restored version was premiered on August 13, 2015, at the Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino (CCP Little Theatre) of the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

[15] Jay Cruz, writing for SINEGANG.ph, gave the film four-and-a-half out of five stars, with praise directed to its cast, screenplay, cinematography, music, and editing.

[16] Panos Kotzathanasis of Asian Movie Pulse wrote that the film "may be a bit overdramatic on occasion but both the comments and the rather intriguing story are exquisite in their conception and implementation, in another great work by the late Abaya".