The film stars Gallo, alongside Delfine Bafort, Sage Stallone, Lisa Love, and Hope Tomaselli.

Mallory is a wild, poetic, beautiful young woman confronting her terminal illness and eventual suicide.

She reaches out to Kevin to take responsibility for her corpse once she passes, requesting his protection of her dead body’s dignity until her cremation.

"[1] In April 2010, Kyle Buchanan of Movieline reported that the film had originally begun as an indie production, titled The Funeral Director.

Through Gallo's help, the film's cast was filled out with Sage Stallone, Delfine Bafort, and Esther de Jong.

He refused to hold a press conference for Promises Written in Water, and did not take the stage to accept his Volpi Cup for Best Actor, which he won for his performance in Essential Killing.

[1] In a 2011 interview, Gallo said the film would be "allowed to rest in peace, and stored without being exposed to the dark energies from the public.

Stephanie Zacharek of Movieline reported that at the Venice premiere, the film concluded with both clapping and booing from the audience.

[11] Truls Lie of Modern Times Review reported: "The documentary language of this fiction film splits the audience into two: At the official screening they clapped for five minutes – but at the press screening they started laughing and booing from the start, where Gallo is credited as director and editor, and for the script, music, production and acting.

[13] Deborah Young of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the film "is an incomprehensible, disappointing effort in which he (Gallo) receives producing, directing, writing, editing, music and acting credits, so there really is no one else to blame if this story about a man who broods on love and death disappears into the waves almost immediately after its festival outings.

"[14] Xan Brooks of The Guardian awarded the film 2/5 stars, opining, "It's only 74 minutes but it feels like forever...But it cannot by rights be regarded as a failure, or even as a joke, because one never has the sense that Gallo has lost control of his material...There is no telling just where it will go, or what it will do next.

Club awarded the film a 'C' rating, writing, "Shooting in gorgeous, low-contrast 16mm B&W, Gallo conducts various experiments in form...The majority of fragments have the feel of a sophisticated but derivative thesis project.