My Oxford Year Is A Fine Rom-Com, And There's One Side Character Who Deserves More Attention

The 2025 Netflix schedule is filled to the brim with new releases and tons of fun stuff for people to enjoy. That means the release of some fun upcoming book-to-screen adaptations. At the very beginning of August, My Oxford Year was released, and it was… fine.

I’m not entirely sure what I was expecting going into this Netflix subscription-exclusive offering. As someone who considers herself a book girl, I always love a good romance like this one, but I think I was expecting a little more. Either way, there was one character I actually ended up loving more than the main ones. I'm here to talk about them and why they were actually the best part of the film.

The Movie Itself Is Enjoyable

First off, this isn’t going to be an article about me hating on the movie because I did enjoy it in retrospect. I watched it from beginning to end and even had a couple of tearjerker moments at the end. I won’t say what happens if you haven’t seen it or read the book, but it’s a decent one that certainly hits notable beats with couples.

But when I went into this, I was expecting a little more of the classic enemies-to-lovers arc that I was used to before. I wasn't expecting them to have a knife at their throats and want to kill each other like in most romance/fantasies that I've read, but they didn’t start on the best foot. It felt like in the movie, they fell for each other very quickly, whereas in the book, felt a little more realistic. There's also the idea of student-teacher relationships which isn't necessarily alright in any sense.

Because of that, it usually makes me believe the love story just a little less. However, they had good chemistry. Sofia Carson was great (as always) as Anna, and Corey Mylchreest was great as her co-partner, Jamie. But I’ve been a fan of his since his part in the Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story cast.

Even so, there’s one other character who I absolutely adored – and I began to realize just why exactly.

However, Harry Trevaldwyn Was The Scene-Stealer

I could not get enough of Harry Trevaldwyn. Oh my god, he was hysterical. In My Oxford Year, the actor plays Charlie Butler, a fellow student in the graduate program that Anna is attending and someone who makes himself known to her on her first day. In fact, he makes himself known by commenting on her shoes and saying how terrible they were.

Yeah, what a way to start a friendship.

But over time, he did end up having some hilarious scenes and moments that made me chuckle. I think it was just the fact that he was so blatantly honest in his delivery, whether it was how he felt about Anna’s choices surrounding Jamie,, how he thought about a specific costume, or how he felt about relationships. I just wanted to be his friend.

He Really Brought Anna's Whole Oxford Friend Group Together And Was Hilarious

There’s always this sort of struggle when you’re first traveling to a new place to find friends. I think anyone who has gone to college has experienced that sort of nervousness where we don’t really know where to start to see our group. Charlie was that opening for Anna, who, in all honesty, was in an entirely different country and needed those companions to help her.

Charlie, being not only her friend, but her neighbor at Oxford (in his room, of course), was something that really tied her friend group together. From there, they just blossomed. I know that the main idea of the story was obviously the relationship between Anna and Jamie. As I said, there was no denying their chemistry, even if it wasn't entirely believable.

However, watching Anna’s friends also find love was something I didn’t know I needed. Well, maybe not as intensely as Anna and Jamie, but it was still there. The best part of that was Charlie and how he actually did end up going on a date by the end of the film, despite not having any faith in relationships. I think being in this friend group with Anna brought him back around to the idea of it.

Sometimes there are just movies where not only the romance is nailed, but the friend group is as well. This was one of those because I really enjoyed their presence on screen, especially Charlie. And, of course, there was watching him and Anna grow closer as friends when at first, he believed her shoes to be horrible. Now that’s the kind of friend I want.

With The Actor's Appearance In How To Train Your Dragon, I Think We Might End Up Seeing More Of Him

It was funny because, as I was watching this film, I started to realize that I had seen Trevaldwyn before. When I looked him up, I snapped my fingers upon realization of what it was. He was in the How to Train Your Dragon live-action cast, where he played Tuffnut; who, arguably, was one of the best side-characters in the live-action and one I really liked.

While there’s no official cast confirmed for the upcoming How To Train Your Dragon 2, there are plenty of ppeople fans can expect to see, and I’m sure Trevaldwyn is one of them in a return as Tuffnut. But honestly, this makes me even more excited for the sequel, as it means I’ll be able to see him again.

If it’s not in the How to Train Your Dragon franchise, it’ll probably be on some other streaming project. Trevaldwyn has appeared in different projects from the streaming platform, including The Bubble, and he also held a role in the Amazon Prime series Ten Percent. So it’s not like he hasn’t appeared in other things.

Honestly, I’m pleased about My Oxford Year. While I don’t think it was the best romantic comedy movie I’ve ever seen in my life, it introduced me to the range that Trevaldwyn has and that he’s been in a lot more stuff than I thought he was. Now I have more movies and TV shows to look forward to.

If you haven’t seen My Oxford Year, I would highly suggest it if you want a lovely palette-cleanser film for an afternoon, and if you want to laugh your butt off at Trevaldwyn’s delivery. Because I can assure you, you won’t be let down.