‘My Oxford Year' Ending, Explained

Cosmopolitan

4 days ago

Warning: The following contains spoilers for My Oxford Year.
My Oxford Year has officially arrived on Netflix.
Based on Julia Whelan's novel of the same time, the film follows ambitious American student Anna (played by Sofia Carson) on her year at Oxford University, where she meets and ends up falling in love with student teacher Jamie (Corey Mylchreest), despite them both agreeing to keep things casual.
Anna later learns that Jamie is living with a rare, terminal form of cancer and has chosen to forgo further treatment in order to make the most of the time he has remaining, which is why he's been so hesitant to commit.
While the film largely follows Whelan's novel, the two differ significantly in their conclusions. So, what exactly happens to Jamie? Read on for the full ending explained.
In the novel, Jamie receives a temporary reprieve following a case of pneumonia and participation in a clinical trial, giving him the chance to fulfill his vow to journey across Europe with Anna, who is known as Ella in the book.
The film takes a more sombre turn as Jamie's health begins to decline. Near the end, Anna wakes to find him unconscious beside her in bed. She rushes him to the hospital, where she stays faithfully by his side as he approaches the end of his life.
After his passing, she imagines him accompanying her on her European travels—until those visions gradually dissolve, leaving her to face the journey on her own. She follows through on the adventures she and Jamie once dreamed of sharing, immersing herself in the world they had longed to explore together. It's a powerful turning point that reflects the impact Jamie had on her life—teaching her to release her fears, stop overthinking the future, and embrace the present more fully.
The story comes full circle in the closing scene, set once again in the familiar Oxford classroom where Anna once sat as Jamie's student. A new group of students fills the room as Anna steps in, now standing at the front as their lecturer. Like Jamie before her, Anna invites her students to have some cake and says: 'Poetry isn't just studied—it's experienced. Let it move through you. Let it transform you.'
By the end of the movie, Jamie is most definitely dead, but that's not to say the film isn't without a silver lining for Anna. 'Even though it's clear Anna's alone at the end. We left it a little bit ambiguous because we wanted the film to end with hope and with light,' Sofia explained in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.
As to why the film opted for a different ending to the book, Corey told EW: 'It's better like that. It's more powerful. That is the direction that the book is heading in, and it would feel like hypocrisy for Jamie to speak all these things and for Anna to be understanding that philosophy of life [and not end there].'
He continued: 'The impressive thing is that Jamie believes all of these things—forever is composed of nows—and he doesn't have that many nows left. So, what's really amazing is that he's doing all of this stuff and believes all these things with really not that much time left. If that wasn't true, it would feel like we're undervaluing his beliefs.'
My Oxford Year is available to stream on Netflix.