In 1991, at the end of the first Persian Gulf War, a group of American soldiers finds a map that purports to show the secret location of a large cache of Kuwaiti gold that has been hidden by Saddam Hussein. They head off to steal the treasure, only to encounter along the way bitter remnants of Saddam's army, Shiite insurgents who have been abandoned by the victorious coalition forces, and civilians caught in the crossfire, all trying desperately to make sense of the social and political chaos that surrounds them.

Three Kings was filmed in the American southwest and in Mexico. Director Russell and cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel made heavy use of handheld cameras and Steadicams during filming. That, combined with the muted, washed-out palette they chose for the film and the hiring of Iraqi political refugees as extras, resulted in an unsettling piece of filmmaking. Three Kings is both darkly absurdist and documentary—the main characters, initially filled with hubris and visions of wealth, are transformed into men of conscience by the personal and political consequences of modern warfare.