Pizza, Beer, and Cigarettes 1997

Set in an impoverished district just outside Buenos Aires, the story centers on a tight-knit group of teenage delinquents and misfits: Alejandro Pous as Megabom, Jorge Sesán as Pablo, Walter Díaz as Frula, and Pamela Jordán as Sandra — the pregnant girlfriend of Héctor Anglada who plays Cordobés. All of them squat together in the same house, sharing a life built on quick grabs and rough chances. The film follows them as they roam the city, surviving by stealing and improvising, their days defined by improvisation, loyalty, and the heavy gravity of their circumstances.

From the start, the group’s bond is tested by a string of tenuous gigs and the consequences that follow. After parting ways with their former employer, a crooked taxi driver who skimmed a cut of their takings, Frula and Cordobés pull off a theft from a crippled street vendor. The moment sparks a cascade of trouble: Sandra is arrested, her pregnancy adding a new layer of fear and responsibility to the looming future she envisions for her child. Released after a brief stint behind bars, she returns to a choice: press Cordobés to reform and seek a decent job, or continue their life of petty crime. Her decision sets the tone for the rest of the narrative, as she moves toward stability while Cordobés weighs the risky pull toward a larger score that could allow them to move to Uruguay.

Seeking a more profitable future, Cordobés, backed by his friends, dives deeper into the theft scene. Frula compiles a plan with his contact, Rubén, Adrián Yospe, a scheme designed to rob a fancy restaurant with unreliable guns. The plan leads them to a spot that looks easy but triggers alarms, forcing a desperate escape. The failure ripples outward: Rubén breaks away, leaving Cordobés and the others with little more than a bitter payout and the realization that trust in their network is fragile. The crew, running out of time and options, shifts toward a plan of easier money—their sights set on a nightclub.

The nightclub job initially feels straightforward: Pablo and Cordobés re-establish contact with the cab driver, turning the encounter into a confrontation that ends with a violent theft of cash and weapons. Yet mercy threads through their actions when they notice a passenger—a middle-aged woman from Córdoba—whose demeanor softens the sting of their crime. She reaches her destination safely, only to quietly dial the police once she’s alone. Back inside the venue, the tension escalates as the three criminals—Pablo, Frula, and Cordobés—press the takings and hold the workers at gunpoint, with Megabom stationed outside as a lookout. The moment of distraction comes when the bouncer notices the weapon switch, a sign that trouble is not far behind.

The chase intensifies as Megabom’s attempt to fend off a pursuing cop by creating a disturbance reveals the fragility of their plan. Cordobés steps from the ticket office with a gun, and the bouncer fires, striking him in the chest; Pablo quickly responds, ending the bouncer’s life. The scene spirals into chaos as the police force enters; an enraged Megabom confronts the officer, only to be subdued by a brutal arrest that leaves the group scattered and terrified. Frula, seeing his friends’ peril, attempts a desperate move, drawing his own weapon in a final, fatal act that ends with him being shot down by law enforcement.

Escape becomes the only option for Pablo, who manages to flee with a badly wounded Cordobés, stealing another car and racing toward the docks. There, the plan to separate grief from love takes center stage: Pablo hands Cordobés the money to secure Sandra’s future, hoping the gesture will allow them both to reach a safer life, while Pablo stays behind to surrender to the authorities. Cordobés fights a losing battle against his injuries, dragging himself toward the water where he imagines a chance to reach the boat and a new life. The moment arrives too late; Cordobés collapses, reuniting briefly with Sandra before the vessel sails away, leaving him behind to face the consequences of their choices.

When the police finally arrive at the docks, they discover Cordobés’s lifeless body and report the death, a stark coda to a night of chaos. The film’s texture—its crowded, sunlit streets, the claustrophobic rooms that double as too-small sanctuaries for the group, and the relentless pull of desperation—renders a bleak but intimate portrait of youth caught between dreams and necessity. The choices each character makes push them toward acts that seem necessary at the moment but carry a heavy price, reframing loyalty, trust, and love against a backdrop of economic hardship and limited options. In the end, the story leaves us with a quiet, unvarnished meditation on what it costs to chase a brighter future when the present offers so little.