--- title: Breaking Down the Emotional Ending of My Oxford Year' description: Netflix's new romance starring Sofia Carson follows an American woman pursuing poetry, and love, in the UK. canonical: https://time.com/7306814/my-oxford-year-netflix-ending-explained/ author: Barry Levitt article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-08-01T12:00:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:02:09.498Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Breaking Down the Emotional Ending of Netflix's 'My Oxford Year' og:description: Netflix's new romance starring Sofia Carson follows an American woman pursuing poetry, and love, in the UK. og:url: https://time.com/7306814/my-oxford-year-netflix-ending-explained/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb6e8459c1e940e0c/6998c8b6e2d64be880c5f8f8/moy_03.10.14.14.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: My Oxford Year og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Breaking Down the Emotional Ending of Netflix's 'My Oxford Year' twitter:description: Netflix's new romance starring Sofia Carson follows an American woman pursuing poetry, and love, in the UK. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb6e8459c1e940e0c/6998c8b6e2d64be880c5f8f8/moy_03.10.14.14.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Breaking Down the Emotional Ending of Netflix's _My Oxford Year_ > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. ## Video: "My Oxford Years" Stars on the Film's Poetry References [Watch (HLS stream): "My Oxford Years" Stars on the Film's Poetry References](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ASBnWEqc.m3u8) (2:59)  _Published 2025-08-07. The Netflix romance “My Oxford Year” follows a young American student named Anna (Sofia Carson) in her long-dreamt-of year at Oxford University to study literature and poetry._ by [Barry Levitt](https://time.com/author/barry-levitt/) ## Barry Levitt Levitt is a contributor for TIME. Aug 1, 2025 12:00 PM UTC  Corey Mylchreest as Jamie and Sofia Carson as Anna in My Oxford Year. Corey Mylchreest as Jamie and Sofia Carson as Anna in My Oxford Year.Courtesy of Netflix by [Barry Levitt](https://time.com/author/barry-levitt/) ## Barry Levitt Levitt is a contributor for TIME. Aug 1, 2025 12:00 PM UTC Is there anything more romantic than an American traveling to the UK for a life-altering experience? That’s the gist of _My Oxford Year_, a new [romance film ](https://time.com/7221413/best-romantic-k-dramas-netflix/)on Netflix starring Sofia Carson and based on the novel by Julia Whelan. Carson plays Anna, who has a good thing going for her. After graduating from Cornell University and lining up a job as a financial analyst at Goldman Sachs, she finagles a year off before starting the gig to follow her passion: studying poetry at Oxford University. It’s there she meets Jamie (Corey Mylchreest), who teaches her poetry course. Though their friendship starts off on the wrong foot (Jamie drives over a puddle, leaving her soaking wet), they soon launch into a [romance](https://time.com/5782373/best-romance-movies-on-netflix/) that will change both of their lives forever. This is how _My Oxford Year_ ends. With two weeks left to go in her year at Oxford, Anna has to decide between returning to her life in America, where a stable, high-paying career awaits her, or risking it all to stay with Jamie in Oxford. Anna decides to stay, calling her mother to say that she’ll let Goldman Sachs know she plans to turn down the job. Her mother is shocked, but understanding, telling Anna that she and her father are ready to support her no matter how she chooses to live her life.  Sofia Carson as Anna Chris Baker/Netflix **Read more:**[ _Here’s What’s New on Netflix in July 2025_](https://time.com/7297591/new-on-netflix-july-2025/) Jamie, however, is very upset by her decision. It’s not because he doesn’t want to be with her, but that he knows their relationship can't last forever. That’s because Jamie has been secretly living with an aggressive form of incurable cancer, the same one that already claimed his brother’s life. While he initially kept this a secret from Anna, she found out when she stormed into his house, worried he was cheating on her, only to learn that his big secret was that he was undergoing chemotherapy. Jamie feared that he’d hold her back, and didn’t want to burden Anna with the reality of caring for a dying person. But Anna loves Jamie, and wants to be with him until the very end, despite his protestations that she head back to America and let her life begin. Anna is not someone who can be easily deterred. She surprises Jamie in the secret Oxford library where their relationship truly began to blossom, telling him she isn’t going anywhere. “Anna, I want this more than anything, but this is madness. I fear that you’ll regret it,” Jamie says. Anna has made up her mind: “I’m of the opinion that you should never regret the things you do,” she responds. And that’s that. Anna is staying in Oxford with Jamie. That night, they sleep together. But when Anna wakes up in the morning, she finds Jamie unresponsive in bed. At the hospital, Anna waits with Jamie’s parents. The doctor reveals a bad prognosis—Jamie has a critical case of pneumonia, as the chemotherapy has weakened his immune system. The doctor suggests further treatments, but Jamie’s father resists, respecting Jamie’s wishes to not suffer any longer in an attempt to keep him alive. This represents a sea change for his father; previously, their relationship had struggled because Jamie’s father was so forceful in doing everything possible to keep Jamie’s brother Eddie alive, despite every effort meeting in failure. It’s a touching and heartbreaking moment, as Jamie’s father agrees to let his other son go.  Corey Mylchreest as Jamie Chris Baker/Netflix Later, Anna and Jamie lie in bed together. “Now that you’ve stayed, you have time to go on your grand tour,” Jamie tells her. “We should go together,” Anna responds. There’s a tinge of heartbreak in her voice—she knows the grand European adventure they always wanted to take is now impossible. Anna then narrates where they could go; to a hidden chapel in the red light district in Amsterdam, to the Seine in Paris, where they’d drink all night, to Venice, where they’d spend the day and night on a gondola; and to the Temple of Poseidon in Greece, where they’d swim in the Aegean sea. “We would [live deliberately, sucking out all the marrow of life](https://www.environmentandsociety.org/mml/walden-or-life-woods),” she says. During Anna’s narration, we see a montage of them living out their grand vacation, enjoying every moment of their time together across Europe. They kiss passionately on the beach by the water. But as the camera swirls around them, Jamie disappears, leaving Anna alone at the beach. It’s a subtle but potent moment—Jamie has passed, with the water motif recalling how they first met. _My Oxford Year_ elects not to draw out Jamie’s suffering, granting him the peaceful way out he longed for. A quick shot of them lying in bed together suggests that Jamie may have died in bed with Anna in his arms, but it’s open to interpretation. Wisely, the film is far less invested in how Jamie died, instead focusing on how Jamie lived, and how he forever impacted Anna’s life. **Read more:** [_The 31 Best Love Triangle Movies_ ](https://time.com/6971626/love-triangle-movies-challengers/)  Anna at Oxford Chris Baker/Netflix _My Oxford Year_ leans into another montage, showing Anna alone on the grand adventure they wanted to take together. She does all the things she and Jamie planned to do, discovering a world she so wanted to explore with him. It’s a striking moment that shows how Jamie changed Anna, allowing her to let go and worry less about the future and live more in the moment. There are glimpses of Anna’s growth throughout the film, including when she stops living her Oxford year by checklist and embraces spontaneity, but her trip signifies that Anna has truly changed. **Read more:** [_Why I’m Replacing Doomscrolling With Poetry_](https://time.com/7267756/replacing-doomscrolling-with-poetry-insecurity-essay/) In the final scene, we’re back in the classroom where Anna spent most of her year earning her Master's degree. It’s a new year of students, and the door opens to reveal Anna, now teaching the same course she took under Jamie’s tutelage. Anna has officially given up her job at Goldman Sachs and decided to lean into her passion for poetry, the reason she came to Oxford in the first place. “Poetry can be taught, but really it should be lived,” she tells her students, encouraging them to “let it in, and allow it to change your life.” Before the class begins, Anna tells her students she wants to offer them a “bribe” to help them get excited about poetry. She reveals a Victoria Sponge cake, the same way Jamie began his class. In this unique way, Anna can carry Jamie’s legacy with her while forging a path entirely her own. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7306814/my-oxford-year-netflix-ending-explained/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7306814/my-oxford-year-netflix-ending-explained/"},"headline":"Breaking Down the Emotional Ending of Netflix's My Oxford Year","datePublished":"2025-08-01T12:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:02:09.498Z","description":"Netflix's new romance starring Sofia Carson follows an American woman pursuing poetry, and love, in the UK.","url":"https://time.com/7306814/my-oxford-year-netflix-ending-explained/","keywords":["movies","Explainer","freelance","culturepod"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb6e8459c1e940e0c/6998c8b6e2d64be880c5f8f8/moy_03.10.14.14.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Barry Levitt","jobTitle":"Levitt is a contributor for TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/barry-levitt/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb6e8459c1e940e0c/6998c8b6e2d64be880c5f8f8/moy_03.10.14.14.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"My Oxford Year","caption":"My Oxford Year","creditText":"Courtesy of Netflix","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7306814/my-oxford-year-netflix-ending-explained/","name":"Breaking Down the Emotional Ending of Netflix's My Oxford Year"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"\"My Oxford Years\" Stars on the Film's Poetry References","description":"The Netflix romance “My Oxford Year” follows a young American student named Anna (Sofia Carson) in her long-dreamt-of year at Oxford University to study literature and poetry.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/ASBnWEqc/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2025-08-07T16:55:37.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ASBnWEqc.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/7306814/my-oxford-year-netflix-ending-explained/","duration":"PT2M59S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/7306814/my-oxford-year-netflix-ending-explained/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```