'The Holiday's' Timeline Makes Absolutely No Sense— Here's Why

The Holiday is an absolute classic, an iconic Christmas movie that airs on TV every year, without fail, so it's a shame the film's timeline makes no sense whatsoever.

Set supposedly over two weeks during the festive period, the film follows Kate Winslet's Iris and Cameron Diaz's Amanda as they swap houses for the holidays at the last minute.

While that concept seems simple enough, the film's timeline jumps around so much it's hard to know exactly when anything is happening, here's why.

Iris' office Christmas party - December 22?

The film opens with Iris' office at The Daily Telegraph having their work Christmas party before closing for the holidays, an event that would usually take place just before the big day.

While it's not specifically stated, it is implied that Iris is the last person to file a story before the festive period when she and her colleagues will enjoy a much needed break (which she needs after Rufus Sewell's Jasper breaks her heart).

Given she works for a newspaper that has daily editions it stands to reason that they wouldn't go on an extended break until December 22, at the earliest, as that was the Friday before Christmas in 2006, when the film is set.

Seems simple so far, right? Well it's about to get confusing.

November or early December?

On the same day she decides to exchange homes with Iris, Amanda breaks up with Ethan (Edward Burns) and makes the final cut for a trailer of a new film, which comes out on Christmas Day.

Trailers are always released weeks, if not months, in advance of a film's release so for Amanda to be working on a trailer on December 22 for a film being released on Christmas Day makes no sense, it would have been finished earlier that month.

That is, unless Iris' office Christmas party took place much earlier than the Friday before Christmas Day, which would make her boss a very generous person indeed.

Iris and Amanda exchange houses - December 23?

After learning of Jasper's engagement Iris wallows in despair until Amanda gets in touch with her asking if they can exchange homes last minute, she's just broken up with her boyfriend and needs a break away, she says.

Despite it supposedly being December 22, the pair agree to swap homes and book flights for the next day, with Iris arriving in LA in the morning PST on December 23 and Amanda landing in the early evening GMT.

Iris' brother Graham (Jude Law) arrives at her home at 1am in the morning, waking Amanda up so he can crash on the coach because he's drunk and doesn't want to drive home under the influence, and the pair have sex.

Meanwhile, over in LA Iris has met Miles (Jack Black), enjoyed a swim, and decided to go to sleep at 5 p.m. PST because of the time difference between the West Coast and England.

Amanda decides to return home - sometime in December

The next morning after she and Graham have sex, Amanda decides she will still catch a last-minute flight home, though the lothario invites her to the pub in case she changes her mind.

Despite going all the way to the airport, Amanda does change her mind and goes to meet Graham at the pub, which could well have been open on Christmas Eve but it seems more likely these scenes are meant to be set earlier.

Amanda and Graham go on a date - December 21?

After deciding to stay in England, Amanda goes on a romantic day out with Graham where they enjoy lunch at a country house and visit a stunning garden.

It is then that Amanda tells Graham that she's flying home in "nine days", her original flight being on December 30, which means these scenes are set on December 21 at the very latest, though it could well be earlier but who knows at this point.

Later in the evening, Iris hosts a Hanukkah party, in 2006 this holiday took place from December 15 to 23 so this is the one date that does check out (surprisingly).

The storylines converge - December 22 or 24?

The next day Iris meets with Arthur (Eli Wallach) to try and persuade him to do an event celebrating his life's work, and she then calls Graham for a chat while he is with Amanda.

By our reckoning this should be happening on December 22, however Miles then calls up Iris and asks how her Christmas Eve is going which confuses everything.

Later on Miles and Iris go to Blockbuster (RIP) to rent a movie, and back at Amanda's home Miles refers to how it is Christmas Eve... meaning that, over in England, Graham is spending the festive holiday in bed with Amanda rather than his two children.

While in bed, Amanda refers to how her and Graham have been spending time together for "a few weeks", and she also says that she is leaving in "8 hours", after only just talking about leaving in 9 days time.

This means she is leaving England on Christmas Eve after landing on the 16th, surely, but now we're just lost. Is time a real concept in this film?

Tying up loose ends - sometime between Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve

On another day, possibly Christmas Day but who knows because we can't keep up with where the film is set at this point, Iris hosts her event for Arthur only for Jasper to turn up on her doorstep with a present.

How on Earth Jasper found the time to take a 12-hour flight to LA to visit her and leave his fiancé alone at home for the holidays we couldn't tell you.

Meanwhile, Amanda goes to the airport to try and head home for the second time, only to once again change her mind and go back to Graham.

One big happy reunion - New Year's Eve

The film ends with the fab four, Amanda, Iris, Graham and Miles altogether for one last hurrah, which is happening on New Year's Eve.

The Holiday's timeline may make no sense whatsoever but it's still a Christmas classic, and let's be honest festive films aren't supposed to always make sense so we can forgive its incoherent storyline (kind of).