10 Best Love Actually Moments
2. “The People I Love Is, in Fact, You”
Having won the Christmas number one with his memorable “Christmas is all around”, Billy Mack is serenaded by adoring female fans and invites to lavish parties. But, after an epiphany, he turns up at the house of his under-appreciated manager and friend, Joe, with the realisation that he is the only person he wants to spend Christmas with.
In classic Nighy fashion, he professes with dry and stilted awkwardness that “Christmas is the time to be with the people you love”.
Whether you interpret this confession as a romance or a bromance, it is regardless one of the film’s most touching moments.
1. Heathrow Airport
The film ends where it began, with real footage of friends and families reuniting and embracing at Heathrow airport. Against a soundtrack of The Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows”, we see people of all generations laughing, crying and hugging. The screen divides into a kaleidoscopic collage of mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, grandparents and grandchildren, lovers and friends, to briefly form a giant heart. The moving moment brings us back to reality and reminds us that love isn’t just in the movies. For all the film’s heart-warming moments, it is this very real sequence that continues to be Love Actually’s greatest achievement.
As Hugh Grant’s opening voiceover states, “when feeling gloomy with the state of the world”, there is always love to be found around us. The magic of the film is not only its feel-good escapism, but this poignantly timely and hopeful message. In dark and uncertain times, we need Love Actually now more than ever.
Recommended for you: 5 Best Christmas Films with Happy Endings
Which moment from Love Actually do you consider to be the best? Let us know in the comments below and be sure to follow @thefilmagazine on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for updates on more lists like this one.
Written by Gala Woolley
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