Netflix’s “My Oxford Year”, starring Sofia Carson, debuts August 1, 2025. A scholarly dreamer’s Oxford adventure turns into a heartfelt modern romance.
Netflix’s latest romantic drama, My Oxford Year, premiere globally on Netflix on August 1, 2025, aiming to charm audiences with a tale of love, ambition and self-discovery.
Adapted from Julia Whelan’s bestselling novel, the film follows Anna De La Vega (Sofia Carson), an ambitious American scholarship student at Oxford University, whose meticulously laid plans for a postgraduate year immersed in Victorian poetry are upended when she meets Jamie Davenport (Corey Mylchreest), a charismatic British poet whose carefree spirit challenges her disciplined worldview.
Set against the storied architecture of Oxford’s historic colleges, the narrative begins with Anna arriving on campus full of youthful idealism. Ever since cracking open a dusty volume of Tennyson as a ten-year-old in New York, she has dreamed of studying under her literary heroes in England. With a Cornell diploma on her wall and a deferred offer from Goldman Sachs secured, Anna’s intention is clear: immerse herself in Victorian verse, learn under Professor Styan, then return stateside armed with academic insights and parental pride. But fate intervenes in a quintessential meet-cute when a vintage car careens through a puddle, drenching Anna and introducing her to local playboy Jamie—a moment that propels both their stories forward.
Principal photography took place in September 2024 on location at Magdalen College, St Hugh’s College and Hertford College, with additional scenes at Windsor. Filming embraced Oxford’s foggy quads and candlelit libraries, allowing cinematographer Remi Adefarasin to capture both the grandeur of 19th-century academia and the intimate warmth of burgeoning romance. According to production notes, the choice to shoot amid real university backdrops lent authenticity to Anna’s literary quests and Jamie’s bohemian soul search.
Behind the camera, director Iain Morris—known for his work on the television comedy The Inbetweeners—teams with writers Allison Burnett and Melissa Osborne to adapt Burnett’s own screenplay, which was inspired by Whelan’s novel. Their collaboration sought to balance scholarly reverence with modern rom-com sensibilities. “We wanted viewers to feel the weight of Anna’s dreams while also embracing the spontaneous joy of young love,” Morris said in a Netflix Tudum feature, praising Carson’s executive-producer role in shaping the story’s emotional core.
The ensemble cast includes Dougray Scott and Catherine McCormack as Jamie’s disapproving parents, William and Antonia Davenport, whose own marital strife underpins the film’s midsection. Poppy Gilbert brings depth to Cecelia Knowles, the fiery redhead whose flirtations stoke Jamie’s jealousy, while Harry Trevaldwyn steals scenes as Charlie Butler, Anna’s witty classmate whose observations about life and death echo the film’s poetic themes. Hugh Coles rounds out the main circle as Ridley, Anna’s well-meaning but oblivious Oxford acquaintance.
Musically, Isabella Summers delivers a lush score that weaves swelling strings and intimate piano motifs, underscoring both Anna’s introspective moments and the electrifying highs of first love. Editors Victoria Boydell and Kristina Hetherington crafted dynamic montages—pub karaoke sing-alongs, moonlit kebab-truck dinners and lightning-fast cuts between academic lectures and romantic escapades—that inject energy into the film’s pacing.
Critics have offered mixed reactions since early press screenings. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film currently holds a “fresh” rating, with reviewers praising the leads’ chemistry but lamenting a predictable script and underdeveloped protagonist arc. In a recent review for Yahoo News Canada, one critic noted that while technical craftsmanship and performances elevate the material, the filmmakers “neglect their female protagonist’s ambitions in favor of a familiar rom-com formula,” resulting in a “middling drama” that “never quite finds satisfying emotional depth”.
In promotional interviews, Sofia Carson has been candid about the film’s most theatrical moments. Appearing on Today With Jenna & Friends, she recalled filming a rain-soaked kiss atop a vintage car as “more soggy than sexy,” joking that the chilly London downpour tested even the cast’s dedication to romance. Carson said she was drawn to the story’s classic love-story appeal and relished bringing Anna’s passion for poetry to life for a new generation of viewers.
Corey Mylchreest, recognized for his turn in Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, described his chemistry read with Carson as “instant magic,” telling Netflix Tudum that their mutual excitement “melted us right into Anna and Jamie.” Director Morris echoed this sentiment, praising the leads for their ability to “make each other laugh—and maybe cry—in the same take,” calling their partnership “the heart of the film”.
As part of Netflix’s robust August slate, which includes the return of Wednesday and the new documentary Songs From the Hole, My Oxford Year aims to stand out as a heartfelt, if familiar, entry in the streaming giant’s romance catalog. Its global midnight PT premiere is designed to capture mood-driven viewers seeking escapism through literature, poetry and the universal highs and lows of falling in love.
Whether My Oxford Year will cement itself among Netflix’s most enduring romantic dramas or fade as a seasonal weepie remains to be seen. But with its blend of classic romance tropes, academic prestige and modern sensibility—bolstered by strong lead performances and vivid production design—it offers audiences a charming, if occasionally predictable, journey through the hallowed halls of Oxford and the unpredictable terrain of the heart.
