Why Netflix’s ‘My Oxford Year’ Was So Disappointing

Netflix has released a new rom-com starring The Life List‘s Sofia Carson and Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story‘s Corey Mylchreest. What could go wrong with such a powerful and stunning duo? Arguably nothing, but My Oxford Year, a movie adaptation of Julia Whelan’s romance novel of the same name, just proved that even the best of actors sometimes cannot keep a sinking ship afloat. With Sofia Carson leading a respectable canon of rom-com movies on Netflix and even Mylchreest delivering some of the most heartfelt, most romantic moments in the world of Bridgerton, the expectations for this Oxford-set love story were understandably high.

However, My Oxford Year slid just past the romance bubble and completely lost sight of its female protagonist. The opening scene, which shows Carson’s Anna getting drenched by her future beau, Jamie (Mylchreest), as he speeds in his Jaguar through a puddle of water, is an indicator of the mess that follows. My Oxford Year didn’t just step in some mud. It came straight out of the gutter. Two unexpected (or rather extremely expected) lovers get put through the wringer, and what they go through should provoke one or the other emotion. Only it doesn’t.

My Oxford Year is filled to the brim with rom-com archetypes and British clichés, and any touching potential seems to have been washed away by the rain. The film insists that love is fleeting, and perhaps so is its ability to capture the bittersweetness of a truly profound love story.

Netflix

If there is one thing that this new coming-of-age movie on Netflix gets right, it’s the title. My Oxford Year is certainly about the main character’s year spent at Oxford (at least the beginning of it). It sounds promising, intriguing even, but when the paths of the two future lovers cross, the daunting realization sinks in that the Netflix movie is merely a concoction of clichés. This new romantic comedy starring a former Disney star has the obligatory American protagonist struggling to understand the British language. It shows Anna’s hatred for the university’s playboy, which suddenly turns into sensual passion, and includes almost every flat attempt to flirt accumulated from the worst of Hollywood’s rom-coms. My Oxford Year tries to be original and profound, but it is just bland, and its 27% score on Rotten Tomatoes (at the time of writing) is proof enough.

Upon arriving at university, Anna immediately finds a group of friends. There is Maggie (Esmé Kingdom), who is supposed to fulfill the role of the awkward friend in the group. The movie, about a complicated romance, tirelessly tries to convey the idea that Maggie is undesirable and, above all, undateable, using her to create an odd side story in which she constantly swoons over one of her oblivious friends. At this point, it’s infuriating because Kingdom’s talent was wasted in a similar role in Fallen, one of the worst YA book-to-movie adaptations on Rotten Tomatoes, where she was constantly bashed for, well, existing.

Charlie (Harry Trevaldwyn), Anna’s gay best friend, is also a part of the messy love drama, as he navigates his journey from sleeping around and being perceived as undateable to finally accepting the genuine interest of someone who truly cares for him. The romantic comedy movie desperately wants to make viewers believe that every character is essentially undateable, and that includes Anna and Jamie. She is set to go back to her fully planned future in New York. He is set on stopping his treatments and accepting his fate that he is dying from cancer. It’s a tough pill to swallow, but despite these heavy circumstances, the generic rom-com leaves your soul longing for something more. Anything.

Perhaps Netflix hyped the movie up too much, portraying it as a tearjerker that will tug at your heartstrings and leave you in agony. It might come as a shock, but My Oxford Year is so far away from evoking any sort of feeling that the realization of wasting 114 minutes watching this dull story felt more heartbreaking than what the two main characters went through.

The Female Protagonist’s Lost Arc in ‘My Oxford Year’

Sofia Carson Looking Shocked in My Oxford Year on Netflix — Netflix

Anna De La Vega is supposed to be the feminist heroine in My Oxford Year. She is introduced as this determined young woman, who used to be a poetic dreamer, but shifted her focus to financial security instead. As her prestigious job on Wall Street awaits her, she decides to spend a year at Oxford to study Victorian literature before heading into the finance world. A respectable endeavor, but it certainly leaves viewers rooting for her change of mind and rediscovery of who she wants to be. It could have gone well, and it could have inspired, but it sadly didn’t. My Oxford Year missed its chance of becoming one of the best rom-coms on Netflix.

The Descendant star’s acting skills weren’t the issue in her new rom-com. Netflix romance lovers will know that Carson brings depth to her roles, blending sarcasm with vulnerability, as seen in the romantic dramedy feel-good movie The Life List. Unfortunately, the issue was in seeing through the arc of the female protagonist. My Oxford Year started with conveying Anna’s unwavering childhood desire to study at the prestigious university and follow her dreams. Despite opposition, the movie’s heroine follows her quest and conquers anti-feminist hurdles. Well, that is, until she meets local hottie Jamie.

The minute Anna and Jamie went on a handful of unimpressive dates to simply enjoy some time together, the shift was undeniable. It became apparent that the Brit had some bigger secrets lurking behind the playboy facade. The revelation of his tormented relationship with his father after his brother died from genetically transmitted cancer, and Jamie struggling with the same fate, was the downfall of the female protagonist’s arc.

My Oxford Year courageously started with a feminist-centered story, just like Sofia Carson’s Purple Hearts, in which Anna embarks on a long-awaited journey that may even help her rediscover the dreamer mentality she had as a child. Instead of exploring Anna’s inner turmoil as she navigates what she wants her future to look like, My Oxford Year gets tangled up in the intimate side of things and suddenly prioritizes and highlights Jamie’s challenges.

Anna suddenly is only the beautiful American rescuer in Jamie’s story, and nothing more. It seems the sexual tension overshadowed the fact that the movie was meant to center on Sofia Carson’s character. Mylchreest is a delight to watch, but halfway through the rom-com, Anna becomes a side character at best, turning into the confidant who fixes Jamie’s relationships and problems. That’s about the only reason why some tears might be shed. My Oxford Year is available to stream on Netflix.