Everyone has an opinion on Love Actually, but there’s one aspect of the movie that’s universally agreed on: the necklace scene is utterly gut-wrenching.
To recap, Emma Thompson‘s character, Karen, is giddy with excitement to unwrap a gift under the Christmas tree, days after finding a gold necklace hidden in her husband’s coat.
Thrilled that he’s finally bought her a thoughtful present, she rips it open to find a Joni Mitchell CD – and instantly realises the necklace was a gift for his secretary instead.
Watch the video above.
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Thompson’s performance of a woman suppressing her grief so she can get her children to their school Christmas concert is shattering – and now, viewers have highlighted a subtle detail in her costuming that makes it an even harder watch.
If you look closely, you’ll see Karen is wearing a pair of red earrings, along with a red cardigan and matching lipstick.
Sure, red is a popular choice of outfit colour at Christmas time, but it takes on even more significance here.
The necklace purchased by Karen’s husband Harry (Alan Rickman) for his colleague Mia is a gold heart adorned with a red gemstone.
Because Karen had seen the necklace when she found it in Harry’s pocket, we can assume she wore red jewellery, clothing and lipstick to match, thinking she’d be opening the present and wearing her special new gift to the concert.
As Love Actually rewatch season kicks into gear, this little tidbit has popped up on various social media sites, somehow making the movie’s saddest scene even sadder.
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TikToker Kathie at the Nook brought it to her followers’ attention with a post over the weekend.
“The way she matched her earrings to the necklace … I stand with Emma Thompson,” she wrote on a video of the scene playing on TV.
“She was ready for the necklace,” she added in a comment.
Judging by the responses, it’s a detail that’s slipped by unnoticed for many fans who love and watch the movie each Christmas.
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https://www.tiktok.com/@the_koo_koo_nest_/video/7442479994229624096?lang=en
“How have I never noticed the earrings?” one wrote.
“You’ve broken my heart in a whole new way,” another declared.
However, some Love Actually devotees were all across it.
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“The earrings were the bit that sent me over the edge, I swear,” one follower wrote.
“I’ve always said the earrings, lipstick and cardigan all ready to match is the saddest part of all,” another said.
If this detail isn’t enough to send you over the edge during your Love Actually rewatch this year, never forget the real-life pain Thompson channelled in her performance.
In the ’90s, the actress’ husband, Kenneth Branaugh, was reported to have had an extra-marital affair with Helena Bonham Carter.
“That scene where my character is standing by the bed crying is so well-known because it’s something everyone’s been through,” Thompson said in 2018.
“I had my heart very badly broken by Ken. So I knew what it was like to find the necklace that wasn’t meant for me. Well, it wasn’t exactly that, but we’ve all been through it.
“I’ve had so much bloody practise at crying in a bedroom, then having to go out and be cheerful, gathering up the pieces of my heart and putting them in a drawer.”
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