Factual error: The film is set in the 1950s. In the scene where Ewan McGregor and Peter Mullan are waiting for a load of coal (the morning after they discover the body), there is a close-up shot of Ewan McGregor's head and shoulders. In the background is a huge container ship, slightly out of focus. Containers were not introduced to Europe until 1966 and the ship in this film was probably built in the 1980s.
Factual error: Joe is reading a book on the deck of the barge while young Jim is filling his bucket with water of the side of the vessel. The book Joe is reading is a Penguin Classics, however the book has the 2002 orange-white re-design, while the film is set in the 1950s.