On the Count of Three

On the Count of Three is a 2021 American dark comedy drama film directed by Jerrod Carmichael (in his feature directorial debut) and written by Ari Katcher and Ryan Welch. It stars Carmichael and Christopher Abbott as two best friends who make a suicide pact and spend their final day taking care of unfinished business. The supporting cast includes Tiffany Haddish, J. B. Smoove, Lavell Crawford, and Henry Winkler.

On the Count of Three had its world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, and was released in select theaters and on-demand by Annapurna Pictures and Orion Pictures through United Artists Releasing on May 13, 2022. It received generally positive reviews.

Plot
Despite being offered a promotion, depressed mulch factory worker Val tries to kill himself in a toilet stall at work, but stops when his annoying co-worker enters the restroom singing "It's a Great Day to Be Alive" to himself. Val breaks up with his girlfriend Natasha and quits his job, then helps his best friend Kevin escape from the psychiatric hospital in which he was placed after he had also tried to kill himself three days earlier.

Val tells Kevin that suicide is the answer despite what people are taught, and the two make a pact to simultaneously shoot each other in the face. Kevin panics and smacks Val's hand away when Val pulls the trigger, then convinces Val that they should at least celebrate their last day of life. While the two eat at a diner and discuss what to do with their final day, Kevin's former school bully Brian walks in with his wife and daughter, and joyfully reminisces about severely injuring Kevin.

Kevin's main goal is to kill Dr. Brenner, the child psychiatrist who molested him. However, when a receptionist tells Val and Kevin that Brenner does not arrive to work until late in the afternoon, they decide to return to his workplace later. Val learns that Natasha is pregnant, and tells Kevin that he had planned to marry her but backed out because he was scared. Val and Kevin ride dirt bikes at a motorcycle park owned by their friend Donny, but Val falls off his bike and cuts his leg open. Kevin aims his gun at Wyatt, a rude gas station attendant who makes him wait to buy medical supplies for Val, but he insists that he is using the gun to send a message rather than rob the station and pays for the supplies before leaving.

Val visits his father Lyndell at his car workshop and tries to retrieve the money Lyndell had stolen from him when he was younger, causing a fistfight which ends when Kevin hits Lyndell with a tire iron and Val takes the money. Val goes to the jewelry store where he bought the ring for Natasha and returns it. He visits Natasha and tries to give her money to support her, but she criticizes him and encourages him to see a therapist. In the meantime, Kevin goes for a drive and sees Brian from a distance, contemplating killing him before changing his mind when he watches Brian play with his daughter.

Late in the afternoon, Kevin decides to go through with his plan and visits Brenner. In the car, Val tells Kevin that he does not want to die and that he was glad he was alive to enjoy the day. Inside Brenner's office, Kevin goes through with his plan, and He forces Brenner to get on his knees and tries to shoot him, but forgets to take the safety off. Brenner hits Kevin and takes the gun away from him, then lectures him for forgetting about the safety. Val arrives and sees Brenner waving the gun at an injured Kevin; mistakenly thinking Brenner is about to kill Kevin, he shoots Brenner in the head.

Attempting to escape a police chase, the two visit Donny and give him the keys to Val's car before riding away on dirt bikes while Donny distracts the police. Val and Kevin are spotted by police helicopters and decide to stop running away. Kevin tries to convince Val that suicide is still the answer to their problems, but Val does not change his mind about wanting to live. Kevin tells Val to blame Brenner's murder on him, then shoots himself in the head. A few years later, Val receives a Father's Day visit in prison from Natasha and their daughter.

Cast

 * Jerrod Carmichael as Val
 * Christopher Abbott as Kevin
 * Tiffany Haddish as Natasha
 * Lavell Crawford as Donny
 * J. B. Smoove as Lyndell
 * Henry Winkler as Dr. Brenner
 * Ryan McDonald as Brian
 * Jared Abrahamson as Wyatt

Production
In June 2019, it was announced that Jerrod Carmichael and Christopher Abbott would star in the film and that Carmichael would make his directorial debut from a screenplay by Ari Katcher and Ryan Welch. In November, it was announced that Tiffany Haddish, Henry Winkler, J. B. Smoove, and Lavell Crawford had joined the cast. David Carrico and Adam Paulsen agreed to produce under their Valparaiso Pictures banner, alongside Tom Werner serving as a producer under his Werner Entertainment banner. Principal photography began later that month.

Release
The film had its world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, where Katcher and Welch were awarded the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award. Shortly after, Annapurna Pictures and MGM's Orion Pictures acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film, which was released through their joint venture United Artists Releasing. The film's first trailer was released on April 27, 2022, beginning with a slate promoting the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. It received a limited theatrical release and a digital release on May 13, 2022. It was also released on the streaming service Hulu and labeled as part of their "Hulu Originals" on August 17.

Box office
In the United States and Canada, the film earned $36,822 from 19 theaters in its opening weekend. It ultimately grossed between $62,131 and $62,155 at the worldwide box office.

Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 85% based on 114 reviews, with an average rating of 7.1/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "It's occasionally uneven, but On the Count of Three finds director/star Jerrod Carmichael attempting an ambitious blend of drama and dark comedyand often succeeding."

David Ehrlich of IndieWire gave the film an A− and wrote, "Like a game of Russian roulette, this is a movie that would have seemed embarrassingly stupid if things had gone wrong. It's a dangerous and somehow enjoyable movie that dances around the edge of an open wound from start to finish as it risks making light of the heaviest things that so many of its viewers will ever have to carry. But it's exhilaratinga little at first, and then a hell of a lotto see these characters find the kind of happiness worth dying for." Benjamin Lee of The Guardian gave the film 3/5 stars and said, "While it's ultimately a little too messy to work quite as well as it could have, given the interesting and ambitious ingredients, On the Count of Three is proof that Carmichael is a director to be excited about, hoping that perhaps he finds time to write his next script himself."