On the Count of three (2022)
Resigned to stay put because what other options are there?
HULU
My first official review! I asked some customers what they would like me to watch, and this one seemed appropriate to be my first on this new site.
Reviews on here will go as such:
What kind of movie is it? Should you watch it, and why? No spoilers at all, barely any plot.
General Review, with no spoilers
In depth Review, with lots of spoilers!
Thoughts I had, questions, and my favorite part. Possible spoilers?
With this method you can read as far as you want to without spoilers, and come back if you want after you’ve watched the film.
The last day in the life of two best friends.
Warning! This movie and review deals with suicide, like that’s kind of the whole premise of the movie so if you’re not about that, click away and be free! Don’t watch the movie either!
If you like the macabre, if you want a little dark humor, some memento mori with a dash of hope and human thoughtfulness, you should watch this movie. If you have access to Hulu, take the time and watch On the Count of Three. It’s good. It’s damn good. I’m not going to give a star rating on here, it feels weird to quantify such a wide range of films but yeah I really liked this movie. I think it’ll stick with you. It certainly is sticking with me.
Living is hard. Maintaining life is exhausting. On the Count of Three opens intimately close to Kevin (Abbott) and Val (Carmichael), two buddies who have known each other since childhood. They grew up in a small town, and they have decided to commit a double suicide. Besties!
We learn that Kevin has just tried to kill himself like three days ago, and that is what gave Val the brilliant idea for them to do it together. On the count of three, they shoot each other. In the head. Like men. (I read somewhere that men are most likely to use a gun to commit suicide. I mean. Please don’t do that, dear customer, if you find this appealing, please seek help. Not from here of course, this is just a store. I am just a simple vamp-human person).
Kevin surprisingly is the one to chicken out and say he needs one more day, as he has been locked up all weekend in a hospital and just needs one day to exist before doing the deed. We follow the two boys as they live this final day driving around this shitty town they feel eternally (not for long!) stuck in. This is what stood out to me the most, that midwest small town feeling. After watching so many shows and movies set in big cities it is always refreshing to see one in a rural environment. A place where it is easy to run into old friends or enemies, you don’t need google maps, and you are resigned to stay put because what other options are there?
On the Count of Three truly embodies that vibe. Where this film truly succeeds. It’s realness and absurdity and familiarity. I cannot find out what it was shot on but it looks like film? I know it was super 35 (if you’re interested in that) but the graininess I don’t know. It looks like it was shot on an old video camera. You know, the one your parents had and would use to type your concerts and birthdays before smartphones existed. If you’re old enough to have experienced that. I digress. The cinematography is cool, okay? It was done by the same guy that does Better Call Saul and it’s good and it’s intimate and it’s honest.
This movie’s script and intimacy highlights mental illness specifically in men, which is something not often tackled by media. Or is it… well it’s important either way and I think this is a fresh take regardless. Does it pass the bechdel test? Not at all, but that’s okay.
The situations are genuine, the conversations are natural and Kevin and Val have such a fun dynamic. Their friendship is so sweet and the audience can tell they care for each other, even when Val unplugs Kevin’s iPod nano because “his taste in music sucks”. The actors themselves (Jarrod Carmichael and Christopher Abbott) also feel so freakin’ familiar! I could see these two walking down the street, at a house concert, working at a local restaurant, they just feel like real people. I know it’s a little weird to mention that but let’s be honest! A lot of actors feel like actors. And that is where the film slightly falters.
The extra characters are all big names. Tiffany Haddish, Henry Winkler, J.B. Smoove, I mean. I love them all but they feel so out of place next to our main characters. This film I’m pretty sure would qualify as an indie film and it is like a snapshot of two people’s lives that we are just lucky enough to peer into. But when we see Henry Winkler appear on screen the illusion is shattered, even just a bit.
However, if that is the main problem, it’s not a dealbreaker, is it? So why aren’t you already watching it? It’s on Hulu, go log in! Now!
Spoilers! Ahead!
“A lot of people say I’d kill for you but who knows really?”
The ending is the absolute definition of bittersweet and boy do I love a bittersweet ending let me tell you! I do wonder how it plays out when Val gets arrested and I do end up having a lot of unanswered questions but I can push those aside. I don’t need an answer for everything. It’s a satisfying ending, regardless. I may have to watch it again, there are so many layers to this seemingly simple plot that I’m sure I'm missing.
Dealing with such a difficult topic, it never feels too heavy or stressful, helped by the actors personalities and the humor in the script. I mean, I guess the ending is pretty heavy. But… okay so suicide is often seen as an entirely selfish act. With Kevin killing himself, it flips to be a selfless act in order to help Val. And also it’s still a lil selfish but hey two birds with one bullet! Now, it may have been better for him to live and say that he killed the therapist, had forced Val to be his getaway driver, and so on. But it would have really sucked to rot in prison, like he totally hated the hospital (another kind of prison oooh foreshadowing) so death was probably the better option now that I think about it.
I will say, once again, if you need help, seek it out. Colleges usually give discounted therapy, there is a new hotline (988), honestly the internet can provide some good support, or friends and family I’m sure are there for you like Val was there for Kevin. Okay.
I pretty much covered the review in the general part 2, so yeah that’s it for this section.
Favorite part hmmm I love all the jokes, I chuckled quite a few times and it really lightened things up when they were tense. The music was great, of course it was done by Owen Pallett who also did Her. My favorite song was definitely Love You by The Free Design. Costume design was great. Love the revealing of the two boys’ backstories. Yeah. I wish the best for the fictional Val and hope he gets out of jail soon.
On the Count of Three (2022) dir. Jarrod Carmichael
A lot of people say “I’d kill for you” but who knows really?
Carmichael’s directorial debut shot my socks off