Corey Mylchreest as Jamie and Sofia Carson as Anna in "My Oxford Year."

This article contains spoilers for My Oxford Year.

I am the type of person who always wants to read the book before I see the movie. So when Netflix first announced that two of the streamer’s most popular small-screen stars, Sofia Carson and Corey Mylchreest, would be starring together in a romance based on Julia Whelan’s novel My Oxford Year, I immediately added the book to my TBR list.

The story begins with Ella (played by Sofia) leaving to fulfill a lifelong dream, studying at Oxford. Almost immediately upon arrival, Corey’s character, Jamie – a charming and rakish man – speeds past her in a vintage car, soaking her with water. She tells him off, and, of course, he ends up being the professor for her graduate course on poetry. Then, of course, the pair of enemies quickly become lovers, albeit casual ones.

At least, that’s the intention. Ella is supposed to return to the States for her dream job, and Jamie doesn’t want a commitment. In the book, Ella (whose character’s name is Anna in the film), eventually realises that there may be more to Jamie’s commitment phobia than originally thought. He has a secret: He has terminal cancer.

Sofia Carson as Anna in My Oxford Year.

While the My Oxford Year adaptation follows these elements of the book’s overall story arc, it waters down the rest of the novel, diluting its essence with simplified storylines, unnecessary tropes and an unrealistic depiction of death. Put simply, My Oxford Year, which is now streaming on Netflix, is a terrible adaptation.

It’s so bad that it can’t even be saved by Sofia Crson, whom Vanity Fair has declared to be Netflix’s “first bona fide movie star” after her string of successful films for the streamer (Feel the Beat, Purple Hearts, Carry-On and The Life List). The biggest problem is that Sofia has almost zero on-screen........

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