Blocks

Most parents will tell you that toys seem to get everywhere, not least Lego bricks, which are particularly skilled at ending up underfoot. Bridget Moloney takes their omniprescence one step further in her short Blocks as the young mum anxieties of Ashleigh (Claire Coffey) begin to physically manifest themselves when she starts throwing up plastic bricks.

It's a quirky idea but, at just 11 minutes long, there isn't too much time to explore the issue emotionally and Moloney seems intent on trying for laughs in a scene where Ashleigh talks to her friend Miriam (Ruha Taslimini) at the expense of more emotional resonance. The film's weakness is that it nicely sets the scene for an existential crisis but treats it so lightly that we are not quite invested enough in Ashleigh's plight. Even strong set-ups still need to build afterwards.

But if its feather-light approach is against it, when the harried mum decides to do something more constructive about her problem, Moloney comes up with a solid pay-off. Shot in 's actual the writer/director's home - and with her own children - the film has a good, lived-in feel and the production design is strong when it's required.