79 Thoughts I Had While Watching ‘My Oxford Year’ on Netflix

I love a UK-based romance (not for nothing have I seen Notting Hill an upsetting number of times), and that’s exactly what the new Netflix rom-com My Oxford Year promises to deliver, with its focus on the attraction between a brand-new Oxonian from Queens, New York, and her extremely British professor crush. Let’s dive in and see how this one rates on the Great Rom-Com-o-Meter, shall we?

Ooh, a row of classic paperbacks! How Oxford!
And a Cornell degree?
The neatness of the suitcase this girl is packing is really disenchanting me to her rom-com-protagonist likability.
Aw, OK, she’s doing a postgrad degree at Oxford and her Spanish-speaking family is very proud. We’re so back.
The girl’s name is Anna, FYI.
Did Caroline Calloway somehow inspire this movie?
I know this isn’t another biopic about William and Kate meeting at university, but the Britishness (and the sight of Anna’s carefully coiffed brunette locks) is throwing me.
Wow, dorms in the UK are nice. Where’s the waterlogged twin XL mattress and wall covered in paint chipped from years’ worth of Radiohead posters being hung?
Oh no, Anna got splashed!
Nothing some fish and chips won’t cure.
Surely most Americans have heard of…cod, right?
Who’s this handsome guy with the mean-seeming redhead?
Is “mushy peas” really something you can order in England?
We simply love a guy who has to hide from women he’s dated in public, don’t we, girls?
Oh, shit, this is the guy who splashed Anna with his car.
Aw, I want to run around the Oxford campus in a little ribbon tie! How quaint!
Wait, the hot-ish (or hot-coded, at least) guy from the fish and chips shop is teaching Anna’s class?
They’re reading Edna St. Vincent Millay at Oxford?
The vibes are on.
I like the couch in Male Protagonist’s office.
What the hell is his name?
Also, OMG, the Knives Out knit!
I’m bored. Sorry.
Oh, wait, maybe the redhead isn’t mean?
It’s so hard to tell with Brits!
I, personally, think it’s hot when men drunkenly rail against American empire, but that’s just me.
Wait, never mind, he’s racist.
Oh, I hate his ass!
Good for Anna for dumping water on his crotch.
I hope true love can convince this girlie not to take a job at Goldman Sachs.
Okay, Male Protagonist’s name is Jamie, and he’s a secret musician?
And Anna’s making him perform in public!
How quirkiana!
Ooh, are they having doner kebab?
First kiss time!
Fancy dress party!
Okay, I do not care for this Male Rival’s face.
I know this little Millay-related outing is supposed to be very thoughtful and dreamy, but again, I am bored.
All right, here we go, rainy romance in England. Finally!
In a luxury car, no less.
I want sticky toffee pudding—or, indeed, whatever it is Anna and Jamie are sharing.
That wasn’t a euphemism about their romance; I literally just want their British dessert.
Ooh, I like this sparkly minidress.
Is the lighting of this movie extremely weird, or is it my TV?
It’s not Oxford if you’re not inexplicably rowing.
Remember the Bridget Jones rowing scene of a cig-puffing Daniel Cleaver falling in the water?
Now I just want to rewatch Bridget Jones.
Or, as Jessica from Too Much calls it, “British Jones.” (“SHE’S BRITISH!”)
A recent college grad with an actual house his aunt left him? Lock it down, Anna!
Okay, the Boat Race does look fun.
Oh, shit, Jamie has some sort of illness?
And he’s yelling at Anna to get out of his sickroom!
What in the spooky Jane Eyre reveal?
Ah, biking while crying. Did it for most of my 20s. Not fun.
Oh no, Jamie lost his brother! And now he has the same genetic disease his brother had!
I didn’t realize we were getting all Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants with it.
Okay, I should not have thought about Bailey’s death in that movie.
I’m crying.
I’m back.
Rain, tears, kissing, etc., you get the picture.
Okay, this yellow dress is really giving How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, in the best way.
“I’m gonna get drunk and go on a fucking Ferris wheel.” I love Jamie’s mom!
Gay subplot!
I really do love the phrase “chin wag,” and Anna is right that it could easily be mistaken for jaw surgery.
Oh no, Jamie collapsed!
Ugh, I wish I had easy access to virtually every European vacation spot like my lucky UK friends do.
Then again, we Americans have Buc-ees.
I want a silk driving headscarf, though I’m not sure it hits the same in a filthy Honda Fit as it does in a vintage convertible.
Casual home-castle reveal!
Croquet!
Is Jamie sort of giving a young Tom Cruise?
“Giorgio Armani trained as a doctor.” Thanks for the fashion-history inspo, gay bestie!
Yay, Goldman Sachs who?
It’s graduation day! Somehow!
Or do Oxford students just get a little outfit in order to celebrate regular last days of class?
Wait, does Jamie…die?
And Anna…takes his job?
And serves his traditional first-day-of-class cake?
Well, I did not expect that ending.