Uruguayan director Federico Veiroj explained that El apóstata is about a character who wants to leave a series of things in his life behind him, while Álvaro Ogalla who plays the main character, thought it was about how we relate to power, and whether we need to establish hierarchies or not, in a poetic vision narrated with a great deal of irony. According to its director, he had been influenced by the world of Nanni Moretti, who had always inspired him, but also by Buñuel and Galdos. He also mentioned two films that he bore in mind while he was shooting: “one is La prima Angélica by Saura which has a very similar structure to the one that I wanted for this film, and the other is L’udienza by Marco Ferreri.”

Álvaro Ogalla had no qualms about making his acting debut playing a character inspired by his own experiences, and his fellow actors acknowledged that rather than restricting him, it improved his performance.