NEED TO KNOW
The hit Netflix movie My Oxford Year was adapted from a screenplay that the author Julia Whelan assisted on and also wrote a novel aboutThe 2018 book ended differently than the emotional movieSofia Carson and Corey Mylchreest star in the heartbreaking film
The film My Oxford Year has quite the origin story!
The Netflix romantic drama movie, which was released on Aug. 1, shares the same name as a 2018 book by Julia Whelan. However, she wrote the book after writer Allison Burnett originally came up with a screenplay and asked for her help. Whelan then chose to novelize the story instead, and Burnett later returned to the project and made the Netflix original.
Both the book and the film follow two characters, Anna De La Vega (Sofia Carson) and Jamie Davenport (Corey Mylchreest), who fall in love at the University of Oxford. At first, the realities of their lives prevent them from making their relationship more serious.
There are some key differences between the two, including the main character’s name. In the film, Carson’s character’s name is Eleanor Duran. Another major difference between the book and the movie comes in the emotional ending.
Even though the movie differs from the book, Whelan still seemed to give her stamp of approval.
“Just remember, the book is the adaptation, not the screenplay,” she said, referring to writing the book based on the original screenplay. “Don’t watch it to see what they changed … watch it to see what I changed.”
So, what was My Oxford Year based on? Here’s everything to know about the Netflix film and the differences from the 2018 book.
Warning: My Oxford Year spoilers ahead!
What is My Oxford Year based on?
Julia Whelan attends ‘My Oxford Year’ Premiere after party on July 24, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.
Rodin Eckenroth/Getty
Before My Oxford Year was a book or a movie, Whelan was originally hired to work on a screenplay that Burnett had started. However, as she began assisting on the screenplay, Whelan thought the story needed a longer version, so she transitioned from writing a script to writing the novel.
“This book has a very interesting and unique origin story,” she told Woman’s World in May 2025. “It started as a screenplay that I was hired to work on because it had gone through a few different drafts … At a certain point in that process, the producers got to know my very strong opinions about the story and asked me, ‘Do you think there’s a book here?’ And I said, ‘Nothing has ever wanted to be a book more.’ ”
She added, “It’s been 13 years since I first started working on the screenplay, and it’s been seven years since the book came out, so I am so happy and fulfilled to see this finally coming to fruition as originally intended. But it’s been a journey.”
After the novel became a hit, Burnett worked with screenwriter Melissa Osborne to further develop the screenplay for a movie. However, Whelan noted that the film was based more on the original screenplay idea than the book she wrote.
“You know, it’s so interesting the way Hollywood works. Because this project was always on its own development trajectory, I don’t think they ever really looked to the book for inspiration. So watching the film, I was struck by all the different creative interpretations layered on top of each other; I could see the traces of the version of the screenplay I last touched, but I could also see what was changed,” she told Bookstr in August 2025.
How are Anna and Jamie different in the movie compared to the book?
Sofia Carson as Anna and Corey Mylchreest as Jamie in My Oxford Year.
Chris Baker/Netflix ©2024
Since Whelan took the initial idea and made it her own with the book, there are a few differences with her characters compared to their personas in the movie.
For instance, in the movie, Carson plays Anna De La Vega, a New York City-based student getting a master’s degree in poetry at Oxford University before returning to the city for her job at Goldman Sachs.
However, in the book, the main character is named Eleanor Duran, a student from Ohio spending a year at the prestigious university before returning to the United States to consult on a political campaign.
Another different aspect is Anna’s background. In the film, both of her parents are alive and actively involved in her life. However, in the book, Eleanor’s father died in a car accident, and his death played a major role in how she forms relationships as an adult.
The film also features more of Anna’s friend group and offers more comedic moments with her loved ones — Charlie (Harry Trevaldwyn), Maggie (Esmé Kingdom) and Tom (Nikhil Parmar).
On the other hand, much of Jamie Davenport’s backstory is similar in both the book and the movie. One minor change is that Jamie’s brother, who tragically died of cancer, is named Oliver in the book and Eddie in the movie.
The story also features the character of Cecelia Knowles, who was in a relationship with Jamie’s brother at the time of his death. In the book, Cecelia and Oliver were engaged, but in the film, Cecelia was just Eddie’s girlfriend.
How is the My Oxford Year book ending different than the film?
Corey Mylchreest as Jamie and Sofia Carson as Anna in My Oxford Year.
Chris Baker/Netflix ©2024
While there are mostly minute differences, the major departure in the movie comes at the end. As the story plays out, both viewers and readers learn that Jamie has a rare and incurable form of cancer — the same type his brother died from. Jamie’s health takes a turn for the worse after he suffers an extreme case of pneumonia.
In the book, Jamie’s immune system is able to overcome the case of pneumonia and he participates in a clinical trial that prolongs his life. The trial allows him to fulfill his dream of traveling across Europe with Eleanor. The book leaves off on a more ambiguous note, as Eleanor explains that she and Jamie weren’t meant to be together.
However, in the movie, Jamie does not do the clinical trial and dies with Anna by his side. Unlike the book, Jamie cannot go to Europe with Anna, so she takes their dream vacation by herself. After her grand trip, she honors Jamie’s legacy by taking over his role as a poetry professor at the University of Oxford and spreading his message of living life to the fullest.
Why did My Oxford Year film have a different ending?
Corey Mylchreest as Jamie and Sofia Carson as Anna in My Oxford Year.
Chris Baker/Netflix ©2024
Carson, who also served as a producer on the film, explained that it took her and the other producers awhile to agree on how the movie should end.
“There were conversations up until the very last minute of locking the cut,” Carson told Entertainment Weekly in August 2025. “Our main producer, Marty Bowen, didn’t want Jamie to die. because he wanted the possibility, the future of them together.”
In addition to creating different versions of the ending, the movie also tested the varying endings with audiences to see which was the most powerful.
“The biggest tearjerker moment was when Jamie would disappear, and then, you would see her in all the places alone,” Carson said. “There was a lot of debate, but we all agreed where it ended was the most beautiful ending for Anna and Jamie.”
Mylchreest echoed Carson’s sentiment and argued that the message they were trying to spread with Anna living out Jamie’s legacy is “more powerful” than the possibility of their romantic relationship continuing.
“It’s better like that,” he told EW. “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].”
Carson added of her character, “She’s doing this in his honor and in honor of their love. Carrying the life lessons that he shared with her that changed her life forever. I love the idea that they would’ve had the chance, but with how we see him in that last scene in the bed, there was no universe where that would’ve been possible. So, she lived their dream for them.”
Mylchreest also pointed out that they wanted the ending to emphasize Jamie dying on his own terms, rather than opting to participate in more trials and treatments that may or may not work for him.
“You get a greater understanding of where Jamie comes from, why he is the way that he is, and why he has the strength to think the things that he thinks,” he explained.
Despite the tragic outcome with Jamie, Carson still wanted the film to end on a positive note, so they showed her future spreading Jamie’s message as a poetry professor.
“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,” Carson shared. “Which is why we wanted to show them living all those things together. And then when he disappears and when he’s gone and you assume she’s lost him, that element of hope and the idea of life after love and life after loss is a really powerful thing.”
What has Julia Whelan said about the film’s ending?
Julia Whelan attends the Photo Call for “My Oxford Year” on July 24, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
Since Whelan wrote the book based on the original screenplay idea, she has explained that she understands why the movie ended differently than her book.
“Fortunately, the message is still there, the theme that moved people is there, because that’s what makes the story, as I said before, timeless,” Whelan told Bookstr.
In an interview with SheReads in August 2025, Whelan also pointed out that her book was based on her vision, while the film was created by several people with different ideas.
“Writing novels is a fundamentally isolated endeavor,” she said. “Hollywood is a collaborative art form, the result of many people’s visions. Sometimes too many people’s visions, if I’m being honest. Which I think is why adaptations can get sticky.”