In early 1997, mobsters Kwai Ching-hung, Yip Kwok-foon and Cheuk Tze-keung, who have never met one another, are all in Hong Kong. Thereafter, rumour has it that Hong Kong's three most notorious mobsters, known in the underworld as the "Three Kings of Thieves", are plotting together to score a final hit before the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong. However, none are initially aware of the rumour. Yip is living as a fugitive after a gunfight with the Royal Hong Kong Police. He now makes his fortunes by smuggling counterfeit electronics. Powerful and prestigious in the past, Yip must now grovel to high Chinese officials. Although successful in his business, he becomes depressed. When the rumour comes to him, he feels the urge to give up everything and pick up his gun once again to join forces with the others. Kwai is very cautious and uses several pseudonyms to hide his identity. Although the scale of his crimes is nowhere as large as Yip's and Cheuk's, but he has managed to commit repeated robberies that are totally unknown to the police. Small-scale robberies, which have become his expertise, have minimal risk but also little profit. As he hears of the rumour, he realizes that he will make a large fortune by collaborating with Yip and Cheuk. He initially restrains himself and chooses to ignore it. However, Kwai begins to have second thoughts. Cheuk has recently abducted the son of a rich tycoon and successfully extorted a ransom, all while under police surveillance. Wanting to raise the bar for himself, he hears about the rumour and becomes obsessed with the idea, going to extreme lengths to seek out Yip and Kwai.
Clarence Tsui of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a positive praising the performances of Richie Jen and Gordon Lam, the editing by Allen Leung and David Richardson and calls it "an impressive calling card signalling brighter cinematic futures." Fionnuala Halligan of Screen Daily praised the film's set design and editing and believes the film will "clearly attract festival interest.". Edmond Lee of the South China Morning Post rated film a score of 4/5 stars and praises the film's bold vision and how newcomer directors Frank Hui, Jevons Au and Vicky Wong "couldn't have made a stronger start to their fledgling careers."
Controversy
Trivisa was banned in China. When it won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Film in 2017, the broadcast was blacked out on Mainland TVs. In late 2015, Cheung Wai-chuen, owner of a film properties company, and Law Yun-lam, a logistics firm employee, were arrested for possession of counterfeit money that was used in Trivisa without the proper permits for storage and transportation, which the film's producers were responsible for securing. Despite being marked as props, the judge felt that the fake money looked too real: saying "Nobody could rule out the risk of people stealing these fakes and using them as real money." Cheung and Law were sentenced to four months in prison by a Hong Kong district court in May 2018, a sentence that was suspended for two years. The Federation of Hong Kong Filmmakers condemned the case stating "This is against the industry's dedication to professionalism in filmmaking. The authorities' took on a case that case was unjust. Members of the Hong Kong film industry are not only disappointed and furious, it also sends shivers down our spines." Some film industry members suspected the case was influenced by Mainland China.
Box office
The film grossed HK$3,392,095 during its first three days of release in Hong Kong and opening at No. 3 during its debut weekend. By the end of its fifth week, the film has grossed about HK$9,180,000.
