On the Count of Three
Annapurna Pictures | Release Date: May 13, 2022 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
74
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 24 Critic Reviews
Positive:
20
Mixed:
4
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
ObserverOliver JonesMay 16, 2022
A gentle yet high-caliber mash-up of Sartre and Wes Anderson’s Bottle Rocket, Carmichael’s film is irreverent, serious, and heartrendingly sad in ways so crushingly honest that the unlikely outcome is spiritual uplift. Read full review
100
RogerEbert.comCarlos AguilarMay 13, 2022
On the Count of Three is a rousing tragicomedy that straddles a line between incredibly calibrated gallows humor and a devastating discourse on the burden of existence. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattFeb 1, 2021
The movie settles into the blackest kind of buddy comedy — a lacerating slice of nihilism rooted in real despair, and real I-love-you-man tenderness too. Read full review
91
IndieWireDavid EhrlichFeb 1, 2021
Like a game of Russian roulette, this is a movie that would have seemed embarrassingly stupid if things had gone wrong. It’s a dangerous and somehow enjoyable movie that dances around the edge of an open wound from start to finish as it risks making light of the heaviest things that so many of its viewers will ever have to carry. But it’s exhilarating — a little at first, and then a hell of a lot — to see these characters find the kind of happiness worth dying for. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKatie WalshMay 13, 2022
This is a definitive statement of what Carmichael can do as a director, transcending the small scope of the film into something grander and more epic. Read full review
90
SlashfilmEthan AndertonFeb 1, 2021
While these misadventures could have easily resulted in a more chaotic sort of indie that loses focus, they’ve kept the attention squarely on the characters and each part of this wild day serves their arc in some kind of meaningful way. Somehow, this movie makes light out of total darkness without losing any of the heaviness that comes with it. Read full review
90
Film ThreatLorry KiktaFeb 1, 2021
The director, who also stars in the film, and his fellow lead Christopher Abbott, share amazing chemistry that turns any run-of-the-mill conversation into entertainment. Read full review
83
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeFeb 1, 2021
One of the best things that can be said about On the Count of Three is that it forces viewers to dispel any certainty that its protagonists won’t wind up dead at the end, which provides the film with both integrity and unpredictability. Read full review
80
IGNSiddhant AdlakhaMay 13, 2022
Thoughtfully conceived and brilliantly acted, it’s one of the most bleakly funny films to come out this year. Read full review
80
Total FilmLeila LatifFeb 2, 2021
An extraordinarily grim and tender comedy from Jerrod Carmichael, On The Count of Three is buoyed by an exhilarating Christopher Abbott performance. Read full review
80
VarietyOwen GleibermanFeb 1, 2021
Carmichael, working from a script by Ari Katcher and Ryan Welch, directs the movie with an aimless sly verve. He roots the combustible melancholia in the everyday. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreMay 19, 2022
Neither the subject nor the movie is for everyone. But On the Count of Three is a fascinating variation on a dark comedy theme, and its light touch with hidden depth is one of the most worthwhile farces about “the only serious question,” as Albert Camus famously put it — “whether or not to kill oneself.” Read full review
75
ConsequenceClint WorthingtonFeb 1, 2021
Even as On the Count of Three tumbles toward an ending as unpredictable as it is slightly unearned, the bones of its central performances and unabashed embrace of its concept keep you glued to the screen. Read full review
75
The Film StageJordan RaupFeb 1, 2021
Even if the last act doesn’t succeed as intended, On the Count of Three threads the difficult task of finding the humor in hopelessness while not exploiting the genuine pain of severe depression. Read full review
70
Screen RantAlexander HarrisonMay 17, 2022
Even if it can't quite sustain the highs it reaches early on, On the Count of Three's success relative to its ambition is truly impressive, and those who aren't turned off by its very premise won't regret seeking it out. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)Alison WillmoreMay 13, 2022
All of the miseries that are revealed as the two men go about their day may be bleak, but the humor comes from the small indignities inflicted on them even as they try to go out with a bang. Read full review
70
Screen DailyWendy IdeFeb 1, 2021
This is not a film which minimises the pain of depression or the impulse to end it all. Bruises, both physical and mental, are on show throughout. It’s an approach which might come at the expense of some of the humour – the comedy evokes bittersweet grimaces rather than belly laughs – but does make for a satisfying study of male friendship. Read full review
63
The Associated PressJocelyn NoveckMay 11, 2022
Not surprisingly, Carmichael proves a director who is nothing if not confident and comfortable with the UNcomfortable. He keeps the action moving — at a few moments, the film even feels like an action pic. Read full review
63
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanMay 11, 2022
There’s plenty of food for thought here too, and Carmichael clearly hasn’t set out to trivialize a serious subject. But the film may inadvertently end up doing that, by delivering a message that can be boiled down to a platitude: Live every day as if it is your last. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineChuck BowenFeb 2, 2021
Jerrod Carmichael is a volatile director and an electric actor, but Ari Katcher and Ryan Welch’s screenplay routinely force the characters into formulaic, trivializing scenarios. Read full review
60
The GuardianBenjamin LeeFeb 1, 2021
While it’s ultimately a little too messy to work quite as well as it could have, given the interesting and ambitious ingredients, On the Count of Three is proof that Carmichael is a director to be excited about, hoping that perhaps he finds time to write his next script himself. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeFeb 1, 2021
It's not wholly satisfying as a dramatic work, which is probably a sign of its honest identification with its two troubled protagonists. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubMartin TsaiMay 11, 2022
On The Count Of Three is not didactic, and thank goodness the filmmakers at least have the good sense to recognize that preachiness helps no one and solves nothing. But the film dumbs down a complex and taboo topic by placing blame squarely on bogeymen like bullies and abusers. Read full review
42
The PlaylistRobert DanielsFeb 1, 2021
A good movie exists in On the Count of Three. But a film with such challenging subject matter needed a more experienced director capable of shading the dark comedy and the heartfelt spirit with an assured visual hand. Read full review
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