The third installment of Aki Kaurismäki's Proletariat Trilogy, after Shadows in Paradise (1986) and Ariel (1988). Over 30 years later Fallen Leaves (2023) became the fourth one in the "trilogy".
Although being in nearly every scene, the protagonist does not speak until the 25-minute mark in the film.
The film's story is inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale The Little Match Girl, as well as Finnish author Anni Swan's 1916 youth novel "Iris rukka". Iris' name is thus a reference to the novel and a play on words, as the novel's title means "poor Iris".
Though not shown on screen, the film Iris sees at the movies is a Marx Brothers film.