Spears (film)

Eager to try a different genre after the Horror/Sci-Fi Night People, Lough chose Neo-noir with a story that would be inspired by various paranoid thrillers of the 1970s while updating it with modern-day technology and themes. The film was specifically inspired by Sorcerer in terms of its structure of introducing each of the main characters in a separate country before bringing them all together in the one country where the bulk of the action would take place. The was intended to be very rooted in the Neo-Noir genre with a "moody atmosphere and pervading sense of paranoia".[2] The film's title is taken from the Emily Brontë quote: "Treachery and violence are spears pointed by both ends; they would those who resort to them worse than their enemies". Speaking about the film's theme of revenge, Lough said: "I was keen to weave it into a story that would work as a cautionary tale that asks the audience that it may be natural to want to get your own back, but do two wrongs ever make a right? What's interesting is when the three protagonists decide to hit back at another group, the line between the good guys and bad guys becomes blurred very quickly and it's hard to tell them apart after a while. That's why I love the Neo-Noir genre; things are never simply black and white, moral ambiguity abounds... like real life."[3]

Filming began in Donegal, Ireland where it made use of a high number of locations such as Slieve League, Meentycat wind farm and Leenan Fort.[4] The production moved to Florence, Italy where it used locations such as the Duomo cathedral, Piazza della Signoria and Piazza Republica. In an interview with RTE, Lough remembered "I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel completely out of my depth on the first night in Florence, Italy. But I quickly pulled myself together when I remembered George Lucas felt the same way when he started shooting in Tunisia for the first time on the first Star Wars film. And I vividly remember that first night, when we first laid eyes on Piazza della Signoria – all lit up, just one of our filming locations. Despite the initial stress, we all knew this was going to be cool."[5] In London, locations used included The Shard and Canary Wharf station. Finally, Berlin locations that were used included the Tiergartan, Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church and Sony Center. The final three days of principal photography were postposed by five months due to the COVID-19 outbreak.