AllMovie

This low-budget Hungarian drama looks at a Budapest bar over a year, capturing life among the bar's regulars -- a gangster, a jealous husband, a lonely middle-aged woman, a womanizer, and a trio of attractive young women. Apart from opening and closing shots of the bar's exterior, the entire film is set inside the bar. Each of the brief interior scenes is introduced with an explanatory title, revealing something about to occur, and these scenes are all filmed with the camera in a fixed position, aimed at a single table where the key regulars gather. Espresso received "Best Screenplay" and "Best First Film" honors at the 1998 Hungarian Film Awards.