Warning! Spoilers ahead for My Oxford Year. My Oxford Year makes some significant deviations from the source material as an adaptation, from minor details to major elements affecting the very foundation of the narrative. Based on the book of the same name, My Oxford Year is a Netflix original romantic drama that mines poignant feelings out of its premise.

Just like the original book by Julia Whelan, the story centers on a college-bound young American woman who finds herself living and learning at Oxford University. It’s here she meets the dashing Jamie, a sweet, charming poet who confuses her feelings by hinting at several tragic secrets that envelop his life.

My Oxford Year is far from the first Netflix book adaptation to make significant changes from its inspiration. What is interesting to note is just how impactful the changes in My Oxford Year actually are, ranging from nigh-unnoticeable bits of trivia to narrative-altering upheavals.

Ultimately, none of the changes made to the book supplant the fact that My Oxford Year is a great, touching movie sure to spark emotion from those seeking it. But there’s no denying that the end result is a story that’s decisively different from Whelan’s original literary vision.

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Anna De La Vega And Eleanor Duran Are Two Different People

The first and most obvious change made to the formula of My Oxford Year is the protagonist herself. Sofia Carson plays the female lead of My Oxford Year‘s cast, Anna De La Vega. A New York native, Anna travels from the United States to England to study poetry, more or less biding her time until she begins a lucrative finance internship at Goldman Sachs stateside.

In the book, the main character not only has a different name, but is in a completely different major. Originally, the viewpoint character of the My Oxford Year book is Eleanor “Ella” Duran, who hails from small-town Ohio. Ella travels to London to spend a year at Oxford after earning a prestigious Rhodes scholarship, hoping to pursue a career in politics.

Anna is a very different protagonist compared to Ella, coming across as more privileged, studying poetry at Oxford as something to do for fun to pᴀss the time while waiting for her “real” career to begin. Meanwhile, Ella juggles working on a U.S. presidential campaign remotely while furthering her education at Oxford.

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Anna’s Father Is Alive And Well

Another huge backstory element that informs Ella’s character is the tragic demise of her father. When she was young, Ella’s dad died in a horrible car accident, making her well-acquainted with grief from an early age. This certainly colors her interactions with Jamie, particularly later in the story, in a certain light.

Meanwhile, Anna’s father in the movie is not only alive and well, but is shown to be a positive, supportive influence in her life, sending her love all the way from New York. Giving Anna less experience in dealing with loss certainly makes Jamie’s situation a more difficult prospect to bear for her, though it frees her from Ella’s emotional trauma.

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The Film Puts More Of An Emphasis On Anna’s Friend Group

One thing that was gained in My Oxford Year‘s conversion from a novel to a film is the rounding out of several notable secondary characters — namely, Anna’s friends and loved ones. It’s harder for films to be carried by as few characters as books can, as audiences can grow bored seeing the same two faces alone for an entire runtime.

Thus, the movie takes slightly more time to show off the antics of Anna’s social circle. In Oxford, her core friend group includes Harry Trevaldwyn’s sᴀssy Charlie, Esmé Kingdom as the sweet Maggie, and Nikhil Parmar as the reliable Tom. This cast gets plenty of time to shine with their own bits of advice and comedic relief.

Perhaps it’s this need for the movie to have a more well-rounded cast that ultimately inspired Netflix to scratch the idea of Anna’s father pᴀssing away when she was young. After all, a supportive parent is yet another scene partner for Anna to bounce off of when Jamie isn’t around.

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The Punting Scene Is Completely Different

Following this core principle of populating Anna’s life with more camaraderie and non-romantic relationships compared to Ella’s, the standout punting scene unfolds entirely differently in the movie compared to the book. In the movie, Carson’s Anna goes punting with her Oxford friends, providing a heartwarming outing that proves how rich Anna’s life is.

In the book, this moment is far more dour. Rather than going with her friends, Ella actually goes punting with Jamie, remembering her father when the two share a thermos of H๏τ cocoa. This is the catalyst that leads to Ella opening up to Jamie about her father, telling him for the first time how his death affected her.

This is quite a significant moment for Ella, as, up until this point, she’s written to be keeping people at arm’s length when it comes to her deeper, more raw emotional core. The punting scene helps link her to Jamie in a very real and poignant way. It’s fascinating to see the movie turn this moment into a fun party scene with friends.

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The Circumstances Of Jamie’s Brother Are Slightly Different

Another big emotional reveal in the My Oxford Year novel is the clarification of who exactly Cecelia is to Jamie. Between Cecelia and Jamie spending so much time together and Jamie’s emotionally unavailable treatment of her, Ella ends up understandably suspecting that Cecelia is Jamie’s girlfriend. However, this isn’t quite the case.

In both the book and the movie, it turns out that Cecelia was actually the romantic partner of Jamie’s late brother, who died from the exact same type of cancer Jamie himself ends up with. The two stayed close after the death of someone they both cared about so much.

The movie makes some slight changes to this story, changing the name of Jamie’s brother from Oliver to Eddie. Cecelia is also clarified to be Eddie’s fiancée, rather than just his girlfriend. These minor changes don’t amount to much, but explaining that Cecelia was close to marrying Jamie’s brother makes his pᴀssing all the more tragic.

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Jamie’s Deception Is Revealed Differently

A huge crux of the drama propelling My Oxford Year is the ultimate reveal of Jamie’s cancer diagnosis, something he tries desperately to hide from both Ella and Anna in the book and movie, respectively. To explain his absence, both versions of Jamie manufacture a lie that he is intensely busy working on his thesis dissertation.

In the book, Ella uncovers this lie by asking Jamie where his favorite study spot, the famed Bodleian Library, is, going to surprise him only to find him not there. Meanwhile, the film sees Anna learn that Jamie is lying about working on his thesis thanks to the librarian Laura, who confirms that he hasn’t been there to study at all as of late.

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The Ending Is Completely Different

While the change between Ella and Anna might be a mᴀssive difference between the book and movie versions, the ending of My Oxford Year is arguably the most impactful change. In the book, Ella ends up flaking on her promised job in Washington in favor of absconding to Europe with Jamie, ending without a definite conclusion as Jamie accepts treatment.

Meanwhile, the Netflix movie sees Jamie refuse to go through with the treatment, seemingly dying off-screen and leaving Anna to do their Europe trip on her own, imagining him by her side all the while. It’s a devastating conclusion that completely changes the lasting message and emotional journey of My Oxford Year.