The idea and title of the film, Miéville explains, comes from a passage in the correspondence between Lou Andréas–Salome and Rainer Maria Rilke. Lou and her younger lover Pierre are briefly glimpsed as children; years later, as their relationship reaches an impasse, characteristics of the children echo in each adult. As in all Miéville's films, talking-trying to use language to understand oneself and the world-is central. Shifting between the couple and a broader humanity, hauntingly evoked by anonymous callers to Lou's telephone help line, the film poignantly explores how one can love another despite feelings of hurt and loneliness. For Miéville, love must be created and struggled over, much like a work of art. In the film, a modern ballet and intertwined ancient statues echo the lovers' endeavor to find a fragile balance.