“Best Comedy”

★★★★★

“It’s a perfectly quirky comedy that audiences will thoroughly enjoy.”

The black and white world of silent film is the only one Maximilian has ever known. However, when in his mother’s dying breath he learns he is destined for greater horizons - the technicolour world of Camden, London - he sets forth on a journey that will change his life forever.

Director and writer Joseph Lynn brings us an inventive and hilarious film that takes inspiration from the silent film genre and merges it with a modern comedy. The concept alone may scare off some filmmakers but Lynn handles the film with total clarity and has a clear direction in mind, executing it with precision. Lynn doesn’t play it safe either and keeps the story moving from location to location and even manages to squeeze in another retro film just for our hero to watch. Although we’re not sure if this was made for the film or could be a previous film from Lynn, regardless it shows the attention to detail to create depth in the story.

Tom Meeten shines as ‘Mint’ and performs with a sense of childhood wonder and innocence, while at the same time adding a slice of Count Orlok to it. He’s awkwardly sweet and plays the dead pan role to a T. Lynn and the team were lucky to have Meeten on this film. At his side is his new friend Lucy played by ‘Lucie Fletcher’, who delivers a sincere and believable performance which in other hands may not have worked. The role of Lucie needed to have an instant connection with Mint which the two actors clearly have. The same goes for Lucie’s boyfriend Martin played by ‘Martin Quinn’. Martin helps to create more laughs and plays us the audience as he’s introduced to Mint and his peculiarities. Together, the cast hit a home run and make this quirky short film work.

The production of the film also does exceedingly well. Director of photography Nicholas Peel creates a wonderful splash of colour and light throughout the film. Starting off with the opening ‘silent film’ inspired scene which we imagine wasn’t as simple as it looks to create with such accuracy. As we move into the real world, the colours used really help to contrast against Mint. It' shows a clear understand for visual storytelling and attention to detail.

It’s also worth mentioning the great use of art direction, costumes and make up as the film wouldn’t hold up without the talented crew behind them. There is a clear direction on the style here which helps to create the films unique approach.

The score from Jack Baxter and music from Quinny in the film work really well together and help to create many memorable scenes. The editing is also taken on by Joseph Lynn which makes sense, we see this more and more nowadays where the director takes on editing duties as well. Lyn does this exceptionally well and manages to create a good pace to the film to keep you invested.

‘Mint Chocolate Chip’ is a truly unique film which shows great promised from Lynn as it showcases many different genre styles while creating his own stamp on it. It’s a perfectly quirky comedy that audiences will thoroughly enjoy…

— APEX Film Awards