The Secret of Pin-Up Island is not only a fantasy film about a girl locked in an abandoned factory who is trying to escape. It’s a film about mental health, about people suffering from anxiety and depression and the solutions to overcome them. So, by solving puzzles and riddles in the game, Alesia is actually treating her past traumas in the real world.

   There are many reasons why someone might go to psychotherapy or counseling. Anxiety and depression are two of the most common issues. There are also many reasons people give for NOT going to psychotherapy or counseling, despite having difficulties that might be helped by doing so. And somehow, the next idea came to my mind: What if you can heal your traumas by playing a game instead of talking to a therapist? The game inside the film follows the rules of psychotherapy, in order to keep the authenticity of the topic.

   Point-and-click refers to a type of adventure game, which is built around interactions with items of the world. The most classic interactions are talk, look at something, take something, use an item, combine items. In a sense, point-and-click games are similar to psychotherapy or counseling.

   The film uses animation and graphics to enhance the feeling of a real video game, in the hope that the audience will empathize or even try to interact (somehow) with Alesia, the main character.

   The video game concept is created by Dr. Vera Marley, who watches the patient’s development through the mirrors positioned strategically in each room. In this way, she is aware of Alesia’s condition and can intervene whenever necessary, embodying the Wizard character.

   We shot all scenes of the movie from a mirror subjective point of view. Characters are looking in the camera and they are speaking with the audience. This choice was made also having in my mind the mirror principles in psychology which say that what we do define who we are and how we experience ourselves.

   The film has multilayered plots: the main plot, the straightforward one related to the puzzles that Alesia has to solve; the second layer, the main subplot is represented by the treatment of depression through a scenario, a virtual world created by an artificial intelligence designed for psychotherapy; the third layer is a symbolic subplot, which deals with people’s ignorance. Although there are many known problems that people face, mainly in their relationship with nature (global warming would be the best example), they accept the problem silently and continue their ordinary lives. In my film, even though the characters find out that they must go to Pin-Up Island, in order to save their species, they just procrastinate and wait for something miraculous to happen. 

   All the characters in the “The Secret of Pin-Up Island” are female, for the simple reason that they are Alesia’s versions from the past. They were created by artificial intelligence, using parameters from a questionnaire that Alesia filled prior to the game psychotherapy. For example, Odette is a version of Alesia’s conflict period; Ugne, The Hairdresser, and the girls around them are versions from the period of Alesia’s adolescence when the main objective was to look as good as possible; Sad Girl – the period full of sadness and existential dramas, and so on.

   The Secret of Pin-Up Island is a superhero movie for those who don’t like superhero movies. It tells a story of a usual girl who doesn’t save the world. She saves only herself. But by doing this, she becomes a better person and probably because of this, she can soon save other people.

   Therefore, I wish that The Secret of Pin-Up Island may become a form of art therapy, or a motivation for the spectators who suffer from depression to try to seek help.

Alecs Nastoiu
Writer and Director of
The Secret of Pin-Up Island