Sundance Review: 'On the Count of Three' Is a Dark Suicide Comedy That Can't Find the Right Tone Directed by Jerrod Carmichael Starring Jerrod Carmichael, Christopher Abbott, Tiffany Haddish, Henry Winkler Published Feb 01, 2021 6 The way we talk about suicide as a society is evolving, and it absolutely should, as more people understand the real-life impacts of rhetoric and how such a potentially dangerous topic is framed. As such, using suicide as the basis for darkly comedic thriller would have made On the Count of Threea lightning-rod for controversy if the film was as edgy as it purports to be. On the Count of Three follows the tragicomic lives of Val (Carmichael) and Kevin (Abbott), two childhood best friends in a nondescript American town whose lifetime of pain has led them to believe dying by suicide is the only option. For Val, a lifetime of dead-end jobs and a lack of family base has led him to want to end it all, while Kevin has spent most of his time in and out of mental hospitals in part due to the trauma of being sexually abused as a child.