I think I’ve mentioned this before; I love a short film. Little mystery nuggets of potential, they are. A bit like that inventive game with jellybeans that was all the rage a while back; you know the one, where the beans are either sensible, often delightful flavours, or so stomach-churningly, mind-bendingly revolting/weird that you consider learning all about the creators just so you can avoid ever being invited to dinner at their place. As with most shorts, I went into Delivery relatively blind but ready for any flavour.

Cheery music accompanies our main character Charlie (director and co-writer/producer Colton Eschief Mastro) bursting joyfully out of bed for another night of fast food delivery with a difference. It’s impossible not to notice the red-themed room he dances about with manic glee, pausing only to scribble on a whiteboard, until his phone rings with the first job of the evening; a delivery to one Madison and her bookclub group.

Delivery‘s plot is nothing unusual in that it’s neither new nor unpredictable. What makes it stand out is the focus on the aspects (plot aside) most important in any film, which in a short the runtime demands be tightly-packed; the theme, tone and characters, and the approach to these.

Blake Gaytan‘s cinematography (the mad energy of the red-themed room in the opening scene becoming restful shades of purple as the film goes on, for example) works strongly alongside the personalities of the characters; caricatured and condensed in their development in such a way as to set the mood of quirky, dark humour from the outset.

Co-writer/producer Alex Weiss‘s part as obnoxious, womanising hipster waiter Derek at Madison’s local hangout ‘Tequila Mockingbird’ illustrates this perfectly (with his high-speed delivery of cringeworthy phrases and finger-guns to impress Madison, and sneeringly bitchy contempt towards Charlie).

Jessie Gill as Madison is every inch the ditzy yet independent centre of interest for both Derek (at first) and Charlie. Though it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what Charlie’s role is really about (Madison’s is slightly less obvious), this film is more about the journey than the arrival. Delivery is a perfect example of a successful short for those who seek satisfaction rather than thought provocation. It’s also very funny, and over too soon.

9 out of 10 Darkly Delicious Deliveries