On the Count of Three review – ludicrous, high stakes buddy comedy

Dead behind the eyes but exhilarated at the prospect of ending his life, Kevin is having a great day. The bleached-blonde “ramen noodle-headed motherfucker” is shaking with adrenaline – a desperate, brilliant performance by Christopher Abbott – in the high stakes buddy comedy On the Count of Three, the debut feature from comedian-turned-director Jerrod Carmichael.

Carmichael co-stars as Kevin’s best friend, Val, the other half of a pair who agree to take part in a double suicide pact: life isn’t worth living anymore, but they need to make their last day count before greeting death together. What follows is as ridiculous, dangerous and wildly entertaining as it sounds – a cinematic last resort in every sense.

Carmichael directs a fearless script from Ari Katcher and Ryan Welch, a freewheeling anti-bucket list thriller led by two friends who have lost faith in everything but each other. As the antithesis to a buddy movie like Booksmart, the comedy couldn’t be darker, and the film walks an awfully precarious tonal tightrope. Almost every content warning under the sun is relevant: suicide ideation, profanity, racism, gun violence, you name it.

It only works because of how committed the two actors are, mostly carried by Abbott: his Kevin is so jaded with every kind of social norm, while every polite formality has ruined his life, meaning that the humour comes from the most ludicrous places: a knowing Papa Roach singalong, a giddy dirt bike accident, an awe-inspiring petrol station robbery. “Why isn’t America the happiest place on Earth with the stupid amount of weapons we’ve got here?” Kevin asks, almost frothing at the mouth.

Abbott is having the time of his life, balancing hopeless fatalism with childish excitement in places which could have gone very, very wrong had they been attempted by somebody else. Carmichael offsets this with just a touch more common sense, but rational thinking is not what makes On the Count of Three into the ride that it is.

The film does veer off-piste with one lethal, stupid mistake – only a matter of time, of course. But the stakes change, not necessarily becoming higher but erring much closer towards something more vulgar and ill-judged than what had been achieved in the first hour. There’s a high-speed chase, a death gone wrong, a hell of a lot of police officers, and far too many words about race leaving Kevin’s mouth. This was never going to be a cosy, happy ending. Still, it winds up tasting a little more sour than necessary.

That said, this is undoubtedly one of the most gutsy, thrilling buddy comedies we've seen in a long time. One that shows just how far a good friend can take you, even after you've both realised it's an awful idea and there’s no turning back. Neither aspirational nor totally doomed, On the Count of Three keeps you holding your breath until it finally figures out how to end it all.

On the Count of Three was screened as part of the Sundance Film Festival 2021. A UK release date is yet to be announced.