Happy Hour (2015): Hamaguchi Screening at the Hammer

Most film screenings ask for an evening. This one asks for a good chunk of your Sunday. Ryusuke Hamaguchi's Happy Hour (2015) runs just over five hours, and on November 8 the Hammer Museum is showing it for free as part of the UCLA Film & Television Archive's series Ryusuke Hamaguchi: Early Works. If you are building a list of things to do in Los Angeles that feel like an event rather than a night out, this one qualifies.

When: Sunday, November 8, 2026, 7 PM (per the Hammer's event page) Where: Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd, Westwood Cost: Free, one ticket per visitor

About the film

Happy Hour grew out of an acting workshop Hamaguchi ran in 2013 with non-professional actors, and some of those participants ended up in the final film. It follows a group of women friends in middle age as they move through transitions in work, marriage and friendship. The Archive calls it Hamaguchi's first bona fide masterpiece and one of the best films of the 21st century.

The cast listed on the page includes Sachie Tanaka, Maiko Mihara and Hazuki Kikuchi. Hamaguchi co-wrote the script with Tadashi Nohara and Tomoyuki Takahashi. The Archive notes that the improvisational, communal way of working shows in the result: the long runtime never goes slack, and the drama gets sharper and more intimate as the story widens toward larger questions of change.

How tickets work

Admission to Archive screenings at the Hammer is free, but seats are not reserved online. Your seat is assigned when you pick up your ticket at the box office, first come, first served, with a limit of one per visitor. The box office opens one hour before the program, so arrive early for a film this popular. Hammer members can choose their preferred seats, subject to availability, and get priority ticketing until 15 minutes before the start.

Questions go to the Archive at programming@cinema.ucla.edu or 310-206-8013.

Getting there

Self-parking is available under the museum. Rates are $9 for the first three hours with museum validation, and weekends carry a $9 flat rate all day. The screening is part of a run of Hamaguchi programs, so anyone browsing upcoming events in Los Angeles for film fans can pair it with other dates in the series, including the Tohoku Documentary Trilogy on November 22.

Plan for a long sit. A five-hour film is easier with a meal beforehand and a layer for the theater, and the museum's restaurant and galleries are nearby if you want to make a day of it. More on the series is at cinema.ucla.edu.