Surprised by Oxford
Summary
Surprised by Oxford is a semi-autobiographical romantic drama about Carolyn “Caro” Weber’s life and time at Oxford University. As a child, Caro’s loving and supportive father’s criminal double life was revealed and he is arrested. Caro leaves her faith and throws herself into school, despite feeling somewhat directionless. After she gets a full ride scholarship to Oxford University, Caro is forced to confront her past pain and abandoned faith.
Assessment
Surprised by Oxford is a movie based on the memoir by Carolyn Weber. The movie zeroes in on the intellectual and philosophical elements of faith; seeking answers about the nature of God’s role our lives, particularly when it comes to finding meaning in where we are and where we are going. The movie also wrestles with concepts around feminism, moral relativity, sexual freedom vs. chastity, and other more liberal philosophies, always leaning towards a Biblical viewpoint.
Despite the movie’s hefty intellectual and philosophical leaning, there is also the romantic thread to bring in a more emotional component to Caro’s journey back to faith. Her relationship with Kent is often rocky, but it slowly progresses towards something wholesome.
In terms of cleanliness, the movie has a small amount of cussing (no f-bombs) — which can be turned off if streaming on Angel Studios’ website — particularly by the non-Christian characters. There are also several innuendos and conversations surrounding sex (one character is teased almost mercilessly for choosing abstinence), but nothing that crosses into crude. There is implied nudity (accidental) and one or two kisses, but no make out or sex scenes.
Light-o-Meter
Overall — 4 out of 7 Little Lights
Story: 4 out of 7 Little Lights
Acting: 4 out of 7 Little Lights
Cinematography: 5 out of 7 Little Lights
Music: 4 out of 7 Little Lights
Quality: 5 out of 7 Little Lights
Theological Message: 5 out of 7 Little Lights
Age Appropriateness — Appropriate for intended audiences (roughly PG-13 rating with the cussing/innuendo turned on).
Talk
I was, in fact, surprised by Surprised by Oxford. I thought I was going to get kind of a sweet but cheesy college-age Christian romance story; what I got was a movie that was about 20% romance and 80% wrestling with the nature of God both intellectually and philosophically on top of not shying away from the honest temptations of college life and modern culture (staying clear to encourage sin, however).
The intellectual/philosophical aspect of the story really caught me off guard, especially with a female main character. A lot of times Christian “wrestling with the nature of God” stories tend to kind of follow slightly gendered lines (which is not necessarily a problem and is mostly a product of the fact that different kinds of stories typically appeal more to men than to women and vice versa). Women’s stories tend to be more on the emotional-spiritual side and men’s on the intellectual-spiritual side. As a woman who is fairly intellectual, I really appreciated this story’s perspective.
Now, this story is based on a memoir so I’m calling it “semi-autobiographical”; I’m not entirely sure where the autobiography ends and the fiction begins. So, I’m going to be careful when I say: I did find Caro (the character in the movie) kind of annoying — and I mean absolutely no offense to Carolyn Weber, the author of the original book. Now, the whole movie is kind of her redemption arc, so it makes sense that she’s a bit rough around the edges, but there were a few times I facepalmed pretty hard. That said, I also have a lot of empathy for the messy faith journey she was on and feel like it could be a relatable process to a lot of Christians, particularly women.
In terms of cinematography, I thought the movie was extremely well-done; the director and crew did a great job of bringing out a really moody, atmospheric look at Oxford (which is, of course, a gorgeous campus). I also thought the acting was really good, although some of the conversations felt a bit forced or like they were trying really hard to be witty; I think that was more from the writing than the acting. Overall I thought it was a really high-quality story and definitely the kind of direction I’m enjoying for Christian romances.
Where to Enjoy
Angel Studios: Surprised by Oxford | Now Streaming for Angel Guild Membe...
Amazon Prime: Watch Surprised by Oxford | Prime Video
The CW: Surprised by Oxford - Feature Film | Stream Free
Tubi: Watch Surprised by Oxford (2023) - Free Movies | Tubi
YouTube (Free with Ads): Surprised by Oxford
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