[Press Release] "Trio", Park Chan-wook's Rarely-Seen Sophomore Effort, Makes Its Exclusive Streaming Premiere on Film Movement Plus on 2/27

With "No Other Choice" igniting the U.S. box office, movie lovers can discover Park Chan-wook's origins with his rarely-seen sophomore effort, "Trio" Premieres exclusively on FILM MOVEMENT PLUS on February 27, 2026.

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Before his international breakthrough with Joint Security Area and the Vengeance Trilogy, Park Chan-wook revealed his emerging voice with "Trio", a darkly comic crime tale whose jagged tone and visual flair already signal the filmmaker to come. Released in 1997, the film is frequently described as bleakly funny and unpredictable, blending fatalism, violence, and absurd humor into a portrait of people pushed to emotional extremes.

Ahn is a despondent saxophonist who has repeatedly failed to kill himself, drifting through life until catching his wife in an affair finally jolts him into action. He teams up with Moon, a volatile petty criminal with an IQ of 80, and the two impulsively decide to rob a café -- less for profit than as a last grasp at agency. Their clumsy plan is derailed when they encounter Maria, a single mother dreaming of becoming a nun who believes her baby has been taken from her. Seeing opportunity in the two men's desperation, Maria draws them into her own mission to recover the child.

As the uneasy trio spirals forward, crime, faith, and delusion collide. Park balances cruelty with compassion, finding dark humor in hopelessness and sudden violence in vulnerability. Both emotionally twisted and strangely humane, "Trio" stands as a raw early work that foreshadows Park Chan-wook's later obsessions with damaged souls, moral ambiguity, and the thin line between tragedy and farce. 

"Trio" (1997)

Written & Directed by: Park Chan-wook

Cast: Jung Sun-kyung, Lee Kyung-young, Kim Min-jong, Kim Boo-sun

Produced by: Lee Choon-yun 

Genre: Asian/Crime/Comedy/

RT: 102 minutes

Language: Korean with English Subtitles