Blow

Becky and her friend Cath are in their mid teens, 15 maybe 16. There's a sub-plot about Becky's single mother Zoe who has her own preoccupations. Mum wants.. she wants.. well, fun mainly and that bothers Becky. She catches her mother trying on one of her dresses. She's horrified when her mother and her science teacher Richard hit it off instantly when they meet.

Becky sneezes a lot and they come with no sympathy. She's cleaning her teeth and "choo!" the mirror (the camera) gets peppered with toothpaste. "You sneeze 9 times every morning", notes her mother. "What's the matter?" asks Cath, Becky's friend. "I'm just allergic to my life", sighs Becky because something is definitely wrong. Cath tries to find out who Becky fancies. "Do you think he's hot?" asks Cath, offering a variety of boys around them. But Becky always answers "No". Becky's worries are simpler. She just wants to know why she sneezes. Eventually the answer to their questions surprises them both …

This is a lightly handled and amusing short featuring Elsa Carnaby playing Becky and Miriam Glaser playing Cath. Neither actress appear to have done much else apart from this piece. Pity. Carnaby in particular has a nice screen presence, with one of those faces that is interesting rather than pretty, a face of freckles that fluctuates between closed and sunny. She has a uncompromised Australian accent. When she says "no", it sort of rhymes with "sigh" except that there's 2 or 3 "y"s in there somehow. Film makers missed a trick not capitalising on her.

Why did they call the film "Blow"? I don't understand the choice, given the story.

I score 7/10.