Summaries

Jerrod Carmichael makes his directorial debut and stars in On the Count of Three, a darkly comic feature about two best friends, Val (Carmichael) and Kevin (Christopher Abbott), on the last day of their lives.

Details

Keywords
  • friendship between men
  • dark comedy
  • depression
  • domestic drama
  • suicide pact
Genres
  • Comedy
  • Crime
  • Drama
Release date May 12, 2022
Motion Picture Rating (MPA) R
Countries of origin United States
Language English
Filming locations Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Production companies Orion Pictures Front Porch Pictures, BBC Legends

Box office

Gross US & Canada $54515
Opening weekend US & Canada $36822
Gross worldwide $62131

Tech specs

Runtime 1h 26m
Color Color
Aspect ratio 2.00 : 1

Synopsis

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 goes through with his plan and visits Brenner. 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.

In the car, Val tells Kevin that he does not want to die and that he would rather live so he can be there for his child. 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. (thanks to Wikipedia)

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