Suicide is not a laughing matter. Regardless, Jerrod Carmichael’s feature film directorial debut, On the Count of Three, finds a lot of dark humor while following the story of two men who want nothing more than to end their lives on their own terms. Carmichael plays Val, while Christopher Abbott portrays his best friend, Kevin. We don’t know how Val and Kevin met, but they are united by their ongoing emotional pain and chronic depression. That’s also why they decided to make a suicide pact with each other.
But as seen in the new trailer for On the Count of Three, Kevin isn’t quite ready to shuffle the mortal coil just yet, much to the annoyance of Val. Before he dies, Kevin wants to experience the perfect final day of his life, which means that he and Val can get in as much trouble as they want. Because in their minds, they won’t be around to face the consequences.
The real question is whether Val or Kevin can find something in their lives that makes them want to keep going. That’s the real hook of the film. We don’t want to watch it to see them die. We want to see them come back from the abyss, if they can.
Tiffany Haddish also stars in the film as Natasha, with Henry Winkler as Dr. Brenner, J. B. Smoove as Lyndell, Lavell Crawford as Donny, and Jared Abrahamson as Wyatt.
Ari Katcher and Ryan Welch wrote the script, which Carmichael brought to the big screen. On the Count of Three will hit theaters on Friday, May 13.
