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A snowy paper mews glows with Christmas lights, with blank ivory cards and a black cassette player beside a red door on the right.

Essential Christmas · 2003

Love Actually

83/100Festive FactorWhy it scores 83 ↓
UK certificate 15135 min
Comedy · Romance

We take the position that it is three good films, two passable ones, and a couple that have aged into…

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Plan this film night ↓Can the kids watch? ↓
Explore this film 13 sections

The CineClaus Christmas score

Festive Factor

Christmas, right to its heart.

Two paper elves inspect a miniature red doorway decorated with a wreath and warm lights, with blank ivory cards and a cassette player on the step.

A little magic in the making.

Five ingredients make the Festive Factor.
Open an ingredient to find out more.

Christmas in the storyChristmas drives it, firmly.25/30

What we ask: Take Christmas out. Does the plot survive? Worth up to 30 of the 100 points.

A world dressed for ChristmasVisibly Christmas for effectively all of it.20/20

What we ask: How much of the running time is visibly Christmas? Worth up to 20 of the 100 points.

The little seasonal details8 of the 10 kinds of Christmas icon we count turn up on screen.12/15

What we ask: How many kinds of Christmas icon turn up on screen: trees, lights, snow, carols and the rest? Worth up to 15 of the 100 points.

A Christmas heartHow far the ending rests on goodwill, family and belief: substantially.15/20

What we ask: Does the ending depend on what Christmas means: goodwill, family, redemption, belief? Worth up to 20 of the 100 points.

A returning traditionEveryone looks it up in December (250,000+ searches).11/15

What we ask: Is it actually watched at Christmas in the UK? Worth up to 15 of the 100 points.

82/100

Cosiness Rating Rating

Our ruling & the working →
What do these scores mean?

Festive Factor measures how Christmassy a film is. Five ingredients add up to 100: story (30), setting (20), seasonal details (15), emotional heart (20) and returning tradition (15).

Cosiness is a separate score for warmth of tone, sense of safety, visual comfort, a reassuring ending and how easily you can settle into it.

How the Festive Factor works →
Your next film night

Where to watch

United KingdomChecked

Prime Video

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Sky Store

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Love Actually · Rental and purchase cost extra, separately from membership.

Christmas on telly? ITV1 / ITVX, most years around Christmas. No broadcast date is confirmed here; a past tradition isn’t tonight’s TV listing.

As an Amazon Associate, Cine Claus earns from qualifying purchases. Buying through a link helps pay for the site - it never changes a score.

Streaming changes constantly and we cannot promise it is still right - check the service before you settle in. Streaming availability information provided by Streaming Availability API by Movie of the Night (opens in a new tab). Sky and Rakuten TV data by JustWatch.

The story

About Love Actually

Richard Curtis's directorial debut braids about ten London love stories across the five weeks before Christmas, from a newly installed Prime Minister falling for a member of his household staff to a widower helping his stepson chase a girl at school. A washed-up rocker is meanwhile trying to bully a rewritten Christmas single to the top of the charts. The threads knot together at a primary school nativity and a Heathrow arrivals gate.

The CineClaus verdict

We take the position that it is three good films, two passable ones, and a couple that have aged into something you watch through your fingers. The airport, the cue cards, the dancing down the staircase: the furniture of British Christmas telly now, whether it earned that or not.

Watch it for the strands that work and for the sheer quantity of London in December. Argue about the rest, warmly.

The family desk

Can the kids watch?

15

Our take: one for the adults. Nudity, swearing, and a subplot set on a film shoot that you will not want to explain. Not a family watch, whatever the trailers suggested.

BBFC advice: Strong sex, language.

Content advice & accessibility
Where the advice comes from
The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC).
Our age guidance
Editorial, separate from the official 15 certificate, and never looser than it.

The series

The films in this series

2 films, in release order

  • 2003

    You’re here

    Love Actually

    2003

    You’re on this film’s page
  • 2017

    The film after

    Red Nose Day Actually

    2017

    A short Comic Relief follow-up written by the same writer, shown on BBC One on 24 March 2017.

    Not in our catalogue yet
A first look

Watch the trailer

Official anniversary trailer from Universal Pictures UK.

Blank cards and a cassette player rest on the step of a red Christmas doorway, with warm lanterns lighting a snowy street.

Anniversary trailer

Love Actually

Watch on YouTube (opens in a new tab)Nothing from YouTube loads until you press play.
The people behind the film

Cast and crew

The faces in front of the camera, and the people who brought the story to life.

Main cast

In billing order
Alan Rickman at a film festival in 2007, in a dark jacket.Alan Rickmanas Harry
The actor Emma Thompson at a film festival photocall in 2025.Emma Thompsonas Karen
Hugh Grant photographed at a television show in Graz in 2014, smiling in a dark jacket.Hugh Grantas The Prime Minister
Laura Linney at the Berlin film festival in 2017.Laura Linneyas Sarah
Close-up photograph of Liam Neeson at a festival, with short brown hair and stubble, wearing a pale blue open-collared shirt under a dark jacket.Liam Neesonas Daniel
Smiling woman with long dark hair and drop earrings, wearing a cream satin top, photographed indoors in front of a blind.Martine McCutcheonas Natalie

Behind the camera

Directed by
Richard Curtis
Original score
Craig Armstrong
Writing & production credits
Producers
Duncan Kenworthy
Tim Bevan
Eric Fellner
Photo credits

Portraits via Wikimedia Commons, each under its own licence, approved for this page by a person. Sources and full photographer credits:

Alan Rickman · David Shankbone · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (opens in a new tab).

Bill Nighy · cellanr · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 2.0 (opens in a new tab).

Colin Firth · Gage Skidmore · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (opens in a new tab).

Emma Thompson · Kalai Ramu · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab).

Hugh Grant · Kurt Kulac · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (opens in a new tab).

Laura Linney · Maximilian Bühn · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab).

Liam Neeson · Georges Biard · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (opens in a new tab).

Martine McCutcheon · USP Content · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY 3.0 (opens in a new tab).

Richard Curtis · Montclair Film Festival · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY 2.0 (opens in a new tab).

Keep the Christmas feeling

Music & soundtrack

That tune you recognised. That score you loved. Take a little of the film into the rest of your Christmas.

Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Cine Claus earns from qualifying purchases. Buying through a link helps pay for the site - it never changes a score.

Every track on the soundtrack album, in album order.

Behind the music. Craig Armstrong composed the score.

About this music list

These are the songs and soundtrack we hold for the film, not a complete cue sheet, and they give no scene timings. Album track lists and durations come from MusicBrainz. Spotify and Apple Music links open the matched recordings; links marked Search open a search on that service. Album covers are each release's own, from the Cover Art Archive, credited under the cover.

Film Music Reporter ↗ (opens in a new tab) Crash Records ↗ (opens in a new tab) MusicBrainz ↗ (opens in a new tab) MusicBrainz ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Step into the story

Filming locations

The real places behind Love Actually. Choose one to explore.

Select a place to explore.

Find it on the mapHeathrow Airport

© OpenStreetMap contributors (opens in a new tab)

Open larger map ↗ (OpenStreetMap, opens in a new tab)

Map shows the selected place. Drag to explore; use + and − to zoom.

Choose your next scene

Photographs of the real places

There’s more behind the film.
Explore the next place.

Photo credits & location sources

These are photographs of the places, not film stills. Dates vary; photographs do not show current conditions or guarantee access.

Heathrow Airport · Brian Robert Marshall · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 2.0 (opens in a new tab) · Country & Town House (opens in a new tab)

Grosvenor Chapel, South Audley Street, Mayfair · John Salmon · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 2.0 (opens in a new tab) · Country & Town House (opens in a new tab)

Somerset House, Strand · PAUL FARMER · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 2.0 (opens in a new tab) · Country & Town House (opens in a new tab)

Selfridges, Oxford Street · Russ London -- ( Russ London ). · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 2.5 (opens in a new tab) · Country & Town House (opens in a new tab)

Oxo Tower Wharf, South Bank · Richard Law · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 2.0 (opens in a new tab) · Country & Town House (opens in a new tab)

Gabriel's Wharf, South Bank · Shazz · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 2.0 (opens in a new tab) · Country & Town House (opens in a new tab)

Albert Bridge, Chelsea · Colin Smith · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 2.0 (opens in a new tab) · Country & Town House (opens in a new tab)

Old Port, Marseille · Ingo Mehling · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (opens in a new tab) · Country & Town House (opens in a new tab)

Vidauban, Var · Marianne Casamance · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab) · Country & Town House (opens in a new tab)

Shepperton Studios · Country & Town House (opens in a new tab)

Map pins mark the place, not a camera position or a route. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), including any pin positions read from OpenStreetMap.

A little more Love Actually

Film facts &
behind the scenes

For the fans who stay after the credits.

Movie magic

The airport reunions were filmed on real travellers

The arrivals-hall scenes that bookend the film use footage of genuine passengers, caught on hidden cameras at Heathrow over about a week. When the crew captured a moment they could use, they went back to the people involved and asked permission to include it.

Read the story
On your next watchThe opening and closing minutes, where the hugs in the crowd are not staged.

Source: British Comedy Guide ↗ (opens in a new tab)

On set

Downing Street was built at Shepperton

Every Downing Street scene, exteriors included, was shot at Shepperton Studios rather than in London. The director and production designer had a two-hour tour of the real residence beforehand, but were not allowed to take photographs or make sketches, so the designer worked from memory.

Read the story

Source: British Comedy Guide ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Bloopers & near misses

A wrong tie that stayed in the film

For one scene Hugh Grant wore a different tie for each of eleven takes. After a nap between set-ups he put on the wrong one, the crew spotted it, and they chose to play with the mistake instead of reshooting.

Read the story
On your next watchHis tie in the scene where he first meets the new member of staff.

Source: British Comedy Guide ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Movie magic

It began as separate films before becoming one

Richard Curtis first planned stand-alone films around the Prime Minister and Jamie storylines. He then decided to weave many stories together instead, aiming to fit the strongest scenes of about ten films into a single one.

Read the story

Source: Working Title ↗ (opens in a new tab)

And at a glance

The Christmas in it
Carols and songs heard: Christmas Is All Around, All I Want for Christmas Is You, White Christmas. Set in London during the run-up to Christmas. The Christmas songs listed are the ones on the official soundtrack album.
Releases and certificates
: In cinemas, rated 15. Original UK cinema release, classified 15 by the BBFC in October 2003.
: Back in cinemas, rated 15. Back in UK cinemas for Christmas 2017, still a 15.
: Back in cinemas. Twentieth anniversary 4K restoration back in UK cinemas.
On television
: ITV1. Christmas Eve evening showing at 9:10pm.
Past showings, not tonight’s listings.
Awards
Won: BAFTA 2004, Best Supporting Actor (Bill Nighy).
Nominated: European Film Awards 2004, People's Choice Award for Best Director (Richard Curtis).
Nominated: European Film Awards 2004, People's Choice Award for Best Actor.
Sources & a note on these facts

Each production story is linked to its source, in our own words. Ending details stay behind a spoiler reveal.

Gifts for film lovers · Love Actually

Something for the Love Actually fan

Little gifts for someone whose Christmas always includes Love Actually.

As an Amazon Associate, Cine Claus earns from qualifying purchases. Buying through a link helps pay for the site - it never changes a score.

More for the Love Actually fan

1 more idea
For the fan who watches it every Christmas.Sold by the linked retailer
Good to know

Questions about Love Actually

Is Love Actually a Christmas film?

Yes. We class it as an essential Christmas film: its stories run through the London Christmas season and come together over the holiday itself.

What age rating is Love Actually?

It is a 15 in the UK, for strong sex and language. The certificate has stayed at 15 since its 2003 cinema release.

How long is Love Actually?

It runs for 135 minutes, about two and a quarter hours.

Where was Love Actually filmed?

Mostly in London: Heathrow Airport, Grosvenor Chapel in Mayfair, Somerset House, Selfridges and the South Bank, with the Downing Street rooms built at Shepperton Studios. The French scenes were shot in Marseille and near Vidauban.

Who directed Love Actually?

Richard Curtis wrote and directed it, his first film as director. Craig Armstrong wrote the score.

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