Netflix’s just dropped a swoon-worthy summer romance set against the dreamy backdrop of England’s most iconic university – here’s my honest thoughts on it.
What is My Oxford Year About?
My Oxford Year is a romantic comedy starring Sofia Carson and Corey Mylchreest.
The story follows Anna De La Vega (Carson), an ambitious American undergraduate who believes she has her entire life mapped out, but that’s until fate takes an unexpected turn.
Anna takes a one-year break to study literature at the University of Oxford. But life abroad turns out to be far different from what she imagined. On her first day, things go awry when she’s splashed by a passing car on the side of the road.
To her surprise, the driver is none other than Jamie Davenport (Mylchreest), a young, handsome lecturer at Oxford. Jamie is kind-hearted, sweet, and thoughtful, while Anna is determined and strong-willed. Despite their differences, the two gradually bond over their shared love of literature.
Anna, ever the optimist and career-driven student, plans to finish her degree and return home to start her job in corporate finance. But everything changes when she falls in love with Jamie.
What she doesn’t know is that Jamie is hiding a life-altering secret – he’s living with a serious health condition.
My Honest Thoughts
This film had its highs and lows for me. There were some truly remarkable moments, but there were also a few things that left me feeling a bit underwhelmed.
I expected something along the lines of a typical, feel-good romance (I have to admit I haven’t read the book, so I went in blind), but the cringeworthy one-liners and mediocre acting weren’t doing it for me.
After looking at a ton of social media reactions to this film, I literally think I’m the only one who didn’t enjoy it, as many people said that it brought them to tears.
I’ll be honest, I just wasn’t invested in Jamie’s character. We don’t need more cancer storylines in teen dramas (but that’s just my opinion) – it almost felt like a remake of The Fault in Our Stars.
There were a couple of scenes that felt like filler, not really contributing much to the overall story or characters.
I feel like the only part that really stuck with most viewers was around Jamie’s illness, and the rest of it wasn’t as interesting.
The views of Oxford were nice, sure, but they didn’t save the film from feeling like it was just going through the motions.
But on a more positive note, I did enjoy the romance between Anna and Jamie.
While I appreciated certain parts of the film, overall, it didn’t leave a lasting impression on me. It just didn’t have the emotional depth or nuance I had hoped for, and that’s a shame because there were definitely moments where it showed potential.
Rating
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