Netflix’s My Oxford Year, featuring Sofia Carson as Anna De La Vega and Corey Mylchreest as Jamie Davenport, follows a relationship built on vivid poetry and shared philosophies, until it diverges dramatically from its source material.
In the original novel by Julia Whelan, Jamie survives his battle with illness and sets off on a European adventure with Ella (renamed Anna in the film).
However, the film opts for a more poignant ending: Jamie ultimately dies, and Anna quietly embarks on their planned journey alone, imagining their time together and later becoming a poetry professor at Oxford.
Corey Mylchreest explains that the decision to change the ending was meant to reflect Jamie’s philosophy of living fully in the present.
“He doesn’t have that many nows left,” Mylchreest told Entertainment Weekly, noting that a traditional happy ending would undermine Jamie’s beliefs and emotional authenticity.
Sofia Carson, who also serves as a producer on the film, emphasized their intent to balance grief with hope.
She describes the conclusion as “a little ambiguous … ending with hope and with light,” even as it acknowledges definitive loss.
The movie closes with Anna honoring Jamie’s influence, her solo European tour and eventual return to Oxford’s classroom demonstrate both her resilience and her embrace of his legacy.
Critics and fans have responded strongly to this emotional pivot, with many calling it more devastating and mutually meaningful than the novel’s softer conclusion
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