The title "The Marvelous Girl" is a reference to the term "marvelous reality" used by Alejo Carpentier in his novel "The Kingdom of this World".
The two-minute 'boy and girl' dance sequence took two days to shoot in order to capture the "magic hour" lighting, which was only available for no more than 30 minutes. No additional lights were used. 20% of the choreography was created on the day of shooting.
The story and the visuals were inspired by the painting "Christina's World" by American painter Andrew Wyeth, as well as the works of Latin American magical realism writers Alejo Carpentier and Gabriel García Márquez.
Some of the film's main influences are Víctor Erice's The Spirit of the Beehive (1973), Akira Kurosawa's Dreams (1990), and Peter Weir's Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975).