The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
Back to trending 
Love Actually
Comedy · Romance · Drama · 2003
Eight very different couples deal with their love lives in various loosely interrelated tales all set during a frantic month before Christmas in London.
Movie details
Love Actually
“Love actually is all around.”
2003 Comedy · Romance · Drama 2h 15m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
7.1 / 10
Community rating
Eight very different couples deal with their love lives in various loosely interrelated tales all set during a frantic month before Christmas in London.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Love Actually?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
A California Christmas: City Lights
Romance · 2021
Follows Callie and Joseph one year after they fell in love, now running a dairy farm and winery, but their romance is threatened when business and family obligations call Joseph back to the city.
A California Christmas
Comedy · 2020
With his carefree lifestyle on the line, a wealthy charmer poses as a ranch hand to get a hardworking farmer to sell her family’s land before Christmas.
Love in Taipei
Romance · 2023
A young American woman is sent by her parents to a cultural immersion program in Taipei where she begins a new journey of self-discovery and romance.
Which Brings Me to You
Romance · 2023
Two romantic burnouts, Jane and Will, are immediately drawn to each other at a mutual friend’s wedding. After a disastrous hookup in the coatroom, the two spend the next 24 hours together, trading candid confessions of messy histories and heartbreak, on the off chance that this fling might be the real thing.
Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between
Romance · 2022
Clare and Aidan make a pact to break up before college — no regrets, no broken hearts. But will one epic goodbye date offer them a last chance at love?
Dot the I
Romance · 2003
A fiery Spanish woman is about to marry a kind British man when she meets a Brazilian actor who ignites in her a flame of lust she can't ignore.
Sidewalks of New York
Comedy · 2001
The film follows the marital and dating lives of three men and three women who unknowingly form a tangled web of relationships. Interspersing "man on the street" interviews with scenes from the six characters' lives, the film weaves a humorous and biting commentary on the game of love -- easy to start, hard to finish.
Falling in Love
Drama · 1984
During shopping for Christmas, Frank and Molly run into each other. This fleeting short moment will start to change their lives, when they recognize each other months later in the train home and have a good time together. Although both are married and Frank has two little kids, they meet more and more often, their friendship becoming the most precious thing in their lives.
Notting Hill
Romance · 1999
London bookstore owner William Thacker's quiet life turns upside down when a chance encounter with famous actress Anna Scott sparks an unlikely romance challenged by their vastly different worlds.
The Holiday
Comedy · 2006
Two women, one American and one British, swap homes at Christmastime following bad breakups. Each woman finds romance with a local man but realizes that the imminent return home may end the relationship.
Where it lives
Watch in your region.
Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.
Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.
Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Richard Curtis
Written by
Richard Curtis
Hugh Grant
The Prime Minister
Alan Rickman
Harry
Emma Thompson
Karen
Liam Neeson
Daniel
Martine McCutcheon
Natalie
Colin Firth
Jamie Bennett
Bill Nighy
Billy Mack
Court is in session
Put Love Actually on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.