The police hire a convicted bank robber to crack the Ministry of Interior's vault during the final days of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. But what they find inside is quite different from what they were expecting.
Budapest, Hungary, Christmas 1957. The state, insecure after the defeated revolution of 1956 and increasingly put under the influence of a renewed Stalinist atmosphere, has decreed that all security officials must pass an exam to verify their loyalty. But to be actually effective in a shadowy world where suspicion and secrets reign, the subjects must be unaware that they are being tested.
Kata, in her 20s, loses her boyfriend and her job on the same day. She's been indulging in fantasies of a more thrilling romantic life, and the cold water of being alone and unemployed doesn't entirely dampen her imagination. She's egged on by three girlfriends who get together to talk about men and sex. Kata has possibilities: she meets David, a medical student; there's Tamás, a stranger on a train who might be good for a relationship and a job. There's also Miki, her brother who's had serious drug problems. Is fulfillment within her grasp?