My Oxford Year Movie Review (2025)

A romantic drama about an ambitious American student whose carefully planned future is complicated by an unexpected relationship, My Oxford Year is visually appealing and undeniably earnest, but also boring and lacking chemistry.

I have never looked into it (and I likely won’t), but as I’ve come across various Netflix original movies, I’ve wondered if Sofia Carson has a contract to make a certain number of romance films. You know how in the 40s and 50s, studios would contract an actor, director, or producer to an exclusive contract for seven years, and they’d have to make a particular number of films? I just get that feeling, but who knows. I’ll let it remain a mystery.

My Oxford Year is about Anna, an American who loves books and literature, who decides to spend a year studying at Oxford before continuing with the rest of the plan for her future. While there, she meets Jamie, a cheeky man who turns out to be her professor. They dislike each other, then like each other, then more than like each other, but both are in it for “fun,” and insist that they don’t want anything serious. But, of course, things begin to get more serious.

This movie was so incredibly boring. I checked the clock countless times and found it to be significantly longer than was necessary. If it shaved off half an hour, maybe it would have helped. Maybe not.

My Oxford Year is attempting to be a film like Me Before You or A Walk To Remember, but it is light-years away. There is no chemistry between any of the characters. You do not care about them, although you keep trying, and, even when things begin to get more complicated, the emotional attachment is so muted that I started laughing inappropriately.

The one positive about this film is its visual engagement. The pathways, buildings, cobblestone streets, and general ambiance around Oxford are lovely, and I loved seeing the huge mansion set back with half a mile of lawn in front of it. If I could have watched 15 minutes of the movie’s picturesque sets, I would have really enjoyed it.

Anna is strangely ballsy, and it comes off as unrealistic rather than charming. Trying to put an English father in his place the first time you meet him? Finding all the comebacks at the bar because you are an empowered woman? It gave me the ick and made Americans look particularly entitled. (Which they are, but that’s a whole other conversation.)

The messaging is also strange, but I won’t list any spoilers here. Let’s just say that we all face obstacles in our lives, and if we think that our partner’s obstacles will ruin us forever, either they aren’t the right partner, or you’ve got to buck up. Life isn’t a cakewalk, get over yourself.

I highly recommend not watching My Oxford Year, as it is polished and beautiful, but also empty and contrived. There are many better options available if you want to watch a romance (try We Live In Time) , because this never feels like one.

Runtime: 112 minutes

Motion Picture Rating: PG-13

Languages Spoken In The Film: English and a little Spanish with English subtitles

Should You Watch It? No

Did I Cry? Nope

My Rating: 1.5/5 Stars

Available: Free on Netflix