Saturday, January 4, 11:00 a.m. | Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (DRIVE MY CAR, EVIL DOES NOT EXIST) brings his exceptional knack for exploring and exposing the latent drama in the seemingly routine to this chronicle of four 30-something female friends navigating their professional and personal lives in the seaside city of Kobe, Japan. When a sudden, unexpected revelation creates a rift in their bond, each woman is compelled to reevaluate their relationships. HAPPY HOUR—which earned deserved accolades upon release, including a shared Golden Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival for its stars Sachie Tanaka, Hazuki Kikuchi, Maiko Mihara, and Rira Kawamura—introduced international audiences to Hamaguchi’s deliberate, unhurried, and precisely observed style. Clocking in at just over five hours (our shortest presentation in the third edition of Settle In–a gentle film and runtime to ease you in!), HAPPY HOUR is compulsively watchable; no frame is irrelevant, no sequence indulgent. By including everyday moments that reflect a character’s motivation, and by creating space for mundane interactions that are charged with possibility, Hamaguchi delivers a meditative, novelistic masterpiece. Program contains two intermissions. 

Admission is $15 for Film Center members and $30 for general audiences. Tickets include bottomless refills on popcorn and coffee with purchase. Option to add a boxed lunch, courtesy of our friends at Goddess And The Baker ($13–15). *Tickets with boxed lunch must be ordered at least 72 hours in advance of individual screenings.

Awards & Nominations

Winner - Best Actress (Sachie Tanaka, Hazuki Kikuchi, Maiko Mihara, Rira Kawamura), Locarno Film Festival 
Nominee - Golden Leopard, Locarno Film Festival

Settle In: Binge watching a television show or catching a double feature? Child’s play. Prove your passion for pacing with four films that test the limits of runtimes, that lean into their length, and that invite you to Settle In. Ticket price listed in individual descriptions, all tickets include bottomless refills on popcorn and coffee (with purchase), and bathroom and stretching breaks (feel free to bring a pillow). Ticket holders have the option to add a boxed lunch to their experience, courtesy of our friends at Goddess And The Baker* ($13-$15) Read more

The Film Center is ADA accessible. This presentation will be projected without open captions. The theater is hearing-loop equipped. For accessibility requests, please email filmcenter@saic.edu