When Does "Love Actually" (2003) Take Place?
"Love Actually" is a romantic comedy film written by Richard Curtis and released November 14th, 2003. So when is "Love Actually" set?
It takes place in the year:
We know this because Aurélia's father cruelly jokes, “Shut up, Miss Dunkin’ Donut 2003.” to her sister, so we know it is just before, during, or just after 2003 AD.
2002 AD
We know this because Aurélia's father cruelly jokes, “Shut up, Miss Dunkin’ Donut 2003.” to her sister, so we know it is just before, during, or just after 2003 AD.
More specifically, in the background of the final scene in London’s Heathrow Airport, there are large advertisements in the background for the completely redesigned Apple desktop computer: the iMac G4, with a flat-screen computer monitor. The posters read, “The new iMac.” This model was introduced in January of 2002 AD.
Aurélia's father's statement would have been very strange two years away from “2003” in December of 2001 AD and ads in a high-traffic area teasing the Apple product as “new” would have been very strange once it was over two years old in January of 2004 AD.
According to the title cards throughout the movie that match the dialogue and the progression of Billy Mack’s Christmas single climbing the charts, the entire narrative just lasts from “5 WEEKS TO CHRISTMAS” (or around November 19th of 2002 AD) to “CHRISTMAS EVE” (or December 24th of 2002 AD) and then finally an epilogue "1 MONTH LATER" (or around January 24th of 2003 AD).
