My Oxford Year

My Oxford Year is a 2025 American romantic drama film directed by Iain Morris and written by Allison Burnett and Melissa Osborne, inspired by the novel of the same name by Julia Whelan, which was adapted from Burnett’s original screenplay.^[1] It stars Sofia Carson and Corey Mylchreest.

My Oxford Year
Release poster
Directed by	Iain Morris
Screenplay by	Allison Burnett Melissa Osborne
Based on	My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan[1]
Produced by	Laura Quicksilver George Berman
Starring	Sofia Carson Corey Mylchreest
Production company	Temple Hill Entertainment
Distributed by	Netflix
Release date	August 1, 2025 (2025-08-01)
Running time	113 minutes[2]
Country	United States
Language	English

Plot

Anna De La Vega is an intelligent American student travelling to study Victorian poetry for a year at the University of Oxford. On her first day she gets splashed by Jamie Davenport in his car. Later, she finds out that he will be teaching one of her classes. The two mock each other initially, but spend a fun night together which involves Anna's first time in a pub. However, Jamie seemingly rejects her at the end of the night which leads to Anna deciding to make him jealous by dancing with another man.

The next day Jamie shows her a special book, and the two reconcile and have sex, with both agreeing that their relationship isn't serious. Anna talks to Cecilia, a close friend of Jamie, who warns her away. Over the months, they become closer and finally Jamie invites Anna to his place. Jamie reveals that his brother Eddie passed away, and he and his father do not talk anymore. In the morning, Jamie appears distant. Anna attends the Oxford vs Cambridge boat race with her friends, but she has not seen Jamie for a week due to his studying. However, she finds out that he has not been at the library in weeks, and that Cecilia has also been busy for a week.

Anna angrily goes to his place to confront him and finds Cecilia. However, Jamie appears to be sick and receiving medical treatment, and becomes very angry at seeing Anna. Later, Jamie tells Anna that Eddie had cancer and that Cecilia was his girlfriend. The cancer was genetic and Jamie is now suffering, too. What Anna saw was his last treatment and he won't do any more due to the pain, which is why his father is angry. Jamie says that Anna shouldn't waste her time on him, but Anna references one of their first conversations and says he shouldn't suffer alone.

Jamie agrees to take Anna to the ball where they meet Jamie's parents. Anna talks with Jamie's dad where he talks about how he wants Anna to convince Jamie to return home to have the best possible treatment. Jamie is still dismissive, and at the end of the night, Jamie is weak and collapses at home. He is sent to hospital to recover and Anna sees Jamie's father outside, upset.

For Anna's birthday, she drives Jamie's car to visit the grand castle he grew up in, where she is surprised by her friends for a celebration. Jamie continues to avoid his father who talks about a new drug but Jamie does not want to spend the time he has left in a hospital. Jamie reveals to Anna that Eddie died at the castle. After her present opening, Anna finds Jamie reconciled with his father building a model car that Anna gifted to him, as they did when Jamie and Eddie were younger. Anna's friends find out that Jamie has cancer, and Anna tells Jamie she loves him.

Anna receives a birthday call from her parents, and tells her mother she is remaining in England instead of returning to New York to take her job. Jamie is angry at Anna's decision against her future and they argue, causing Anna to sleep in a separate room and Jamie to smash the model car his father and he worked on. Anna decides to go back to America due to Jamie not wanting her to stay. She graduates, and has not spoken with Jamie. They talk again, and Anna wants to remain with Jamie while he fears she will regret it, but they eventually reconcile and have sex.

The next morning, Anna finds Jamie unresponsive. In hospital, a doctor reveals that Jamie has developed a critical case of pneumonia as the cancer has weakened his immune system, and he requires treatment. Jamie's father finally understands Jamie's wish and refuses. Jamie and Anna dream of travelling together as he passes away in her arms. A time skip shows Anna going on to travel Europe alone, and eventually teaching the same class Jamie taught her in.

Cast

• Sofia Carson as Anna De La Vega, a postgraduate student at the University of Oxford, born to a Hispanic family and raised in the United States. She graduated from Cornell University with summa cum laude and received a job offer from Goldman Sachs. She chose to defer her job offer to pursue a Master’s degree in Victorian Poetry at Oxford.^[3]
• Corey Mylchreest as Jamie Davenport, a DPhil student and tutor in Victorian Poetry. He has several girlfriends. Born into an upper-class family. He has inherited a genetic predisposition to cancer.
• Dougray Scott as William Davenport, Jamie's father
• Catherine McCormack as Antonia Davenport, Jamie's mother
• Harry Trevaldwyn as Charlie Butler
• Hugh Coles as Ridley
• Poppy Gilbert as Cecelia Knowles
• Barney Harris as Ian

Production

The film is directed by Iain Morris and written by Allison Burnett and Melissa Osborne, inspired by the novel of the same name by Julia Whelan, which was adapted from Burnett’s original screenplay.^[1] Laura Quicksilver and George Berman as producers for Temple Hill Entertainment with the film set to be released on streaming service Netflix.^[4]

The cast is led by Sofia Carson and Corey Mylchreest.^[5] It also includes Dougray Scott, Catherine McCormack, Harry Trevaldwyn, and Hugh Coles.^[6]

Principal photography took place in September 2024 in England with filming locations including the University of Oxford at the Bodleian Library, Magdalen College, St Hugh's College and Hertford College, and also in the town of Windsor.^{[7][8][9][10]}

Bodleian Library

Magdalen College, Oxford

St Hugh's College, Oxford

Release

My Oxford Year was released on Netflix on August 1, 2025.^[11][12]

The film was ranked at number 1 in Netflix's Global Top 10 Movies list as of August 3, 2025.^[13]

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 31% of 26 critics' reviews are positive.^[14] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 39 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.^[15]

India Today gave the film a 3.5 out of 5 star rating.^[16] The German film website film-datenbank.eu gave My Oxford Year 82 out of 100 points.^[17]

Honcques Laus, a scholar at the University of Oxford, critiques the film for its deficiencies in portraying the University’s ceremonies and traditions. For instance, the film misconstrues the Master of Arts from Oxford as an academic degree, omits Classical Latin from the matriculation ceremony, misrepresents matriculation as a solitary journey, and mislocates the college ball. However, he acknowledges the accurate inclusion of the subfusc, the Sheldonian Theatre as the setting for ceremonies, and the use of DPhil as an abbreviation for Doctor of Philosophy at Oxford.^[18]

Benjamin Lee of the Guardian gives the film 2/5 stars, saying the film suffers from a lack of emotional depth and does not fully captivate its audience, resulting in a viewing experience that is just adequate but ultimately forgettable.^[19]