The film draws from elements of Irish folklore such as the concept of Changelings (children being replaced by fairy folk) and Fairy Forts (the ruins of neolithic tombs scattered all over Ireland that are associated with many local traditions and folklore and are often thought to be portals to the Otherworld).
There are several nods to The Shining in this movie, including the score itself, the overhead shot of the car driving, the pattern on the wallpaper after Sarah finishes it, and someone dragging an unconscious person on the floor. On the other hand, most of these are elements readily found in other thriller/horror movies.
In a 2019 interview with Starburst Magazine, Lee Cronin spoke about his approach to horror storytelling for this particular film: "As best we could, we tried to subvert certain tropes as and when we could. So I think like, some horror films might've had a more senior character say, 'Don't go into the woods' for X, Y and Z reasons. In this film, I insisted that we wouldn't do something like that and instead we have that type of character later on in the story and Seána Kerslake's character seeking answers from him but he's unable to offer them. I always thought that was a touchpoint for where we were trying to twist and turn things. And with the scares itself, we went with what we felt was right. What we were always trying to do really was just pull horror out of domestic circumstance, as simple as 'What's my son doing behind his bedroom door?', or we're eating dinner. Just trying to find the horror in those circumstances and I think that naturally led to slightly unconventional moments. We don't really build to the scares in an elaborate way, we just kind of let them happen as and when they do."