After Val (Jerrod Carmichael, who also directed) quits his job and fails to commit suicide, he breaks his best friend Kevin (Christopher Abbott) out of the psychiatric ward where he's recuperating from his own attempt so they can settle their affairs and commit suicide together. This involves encounters with Val's ex-girlfriend Natasha (Tiffany Haddish) and Kevin's old child psychiatrist Brenner (Henry Winkler).
A 2021 film, it premiered at Sundance before eventually being released in spring 2022.
Tropes present:
- Affably Evil: Despite being a child molester who preyed on the most vulnerable kids, Brenner is never anything but nice to Val and Kevin and even tries to help Kevin when he starts melting down. He's even very calm after being threatened with a gun.
- Bait-and-Switch Boss: Initially it appears as though Kevin is going to kill Brenner for abusing him and to stop him from hurting any more kids. But, when they finally meet, Kevin goes to pieces and can't go through with it, and it's ultimately Val who ends up shooting and killing Brenner.
- Bittersweet Ending: Kevin is dead and Val is in prison, but Val mends bridges with Natasha and their child and is happy to be alive.
- Glorified Sperm Donor: Val's father is a deadbeat and a thief, and Val's concerned that he'll end up like him.
- Extremely Short Time Span: The whole movie apart from the epilogue takes place over a single day, beginning early in a workday with Val's suicide attempt and ending at night.
- Happily Failed Suicide:
- Played with by Kevin, who repeatedly tries to convince Val that suicide is not an answer despite having tried and failed to commit suicide mere days before.
- Ultimately, Val, who initially wanted to commit suicide, is happy that he ultimately survived his day with Kevin.
- Platonic Life-Partners: Val and Kevin have been best friends their whole life up until the present moment and both seem to know everything about each other, from Val's dickhead dad to Kevin's past molestation.
- Rape as Backstory: Kevin was sexually abused by his child psychiatrist, Brenner.
- Rape Leads to Insanity: Deconstructed. Kevin was already suffering from mental illness due as a kid due to being in foster care. He entered therapy and was raped by Brenner, who is heavily implied to use his practice helping underprivileged kids simply as a front for abusing them. However, as a result, Kevin is much more violent and unstable due to untreated PTSD.
- Role Swap Plot: Val is initially gung-ho to commit suicide and just wants Kevin to help him. Kevin, meanwhile, is reluctant to participate and needs to be dragged along by Val. They slowly switch places as Kevin relives his trauma at the hands of Brenner and ultimately commits Suicide by Cop, while Val discovers he has something to live for because Natasha is pregnant.
- Suicide as Comedy: Val's disastrous suicide attempt is played for Black Comedy as his extremely cheerful co-worker is outside the bathroom the whole time, and then his and Kevin's first attempt is also played for comedy due to neither having any idea what to do. The suicide pact is also the trigger for the entire plot.
- Suicide Pact: Why Val breaks Kevin out of the psychiatric ward.
- Turn Out Like His Father: Val's biggest fear, and why Natasha's pregnancy seems to push him over the edge.
- On Three: When Val and Kevin are trying to commit suicide, which gives the movie its title.
