Set in the turbulent era of the 1970’s, Across the Universe examines the aspects of humanity’s struggle to identify one’s self in a revolutionary time. The story begins as Jude McCready, a lowly Liverpool shipyard worker, yearns to experience the world. He hops a schooner and rides to the United States, hoping to meet his biological father at Princeton, thinking he is a professor. Meanwhile, Lucy is introduced as a young high school girl head over heels with her boyfriend. After a school dance, her boyfriend is seen leaving for boot camp to be deployed in the Vietnam War. The story jumps weeks, and Lucy, walking home from school, sees soldiers at her boyfriend’s mother’s door. Rushing to the scene, she arrives just as the mother drops to the ground crying, her son’s dog tag in her hand. Jude hitchhikes to Princeton where he learns his father is a custodian for the university. His father has a family and Jude leaves to avoid trouble. While in Princeton, Jude meets a student Max. A friendship kindles between the two and Max invites Jude to his family’s Thanksgiving. There, he meets Max’s sister, Lucy.
The trio move to New York, abandoning all ties. All is well, until Max receives a draft card. Max unwillingly enters the army and is deployed to Vietnam. Lucy and Jude have begin an intimate relationship as Jude pursues a career as an artist and Lucy joins an increasingly radical protest group aimed at ending the war. As the protests become more violent, Jude accuses the cause as worthless. Lucy and Jude quarrel for some time until Lucy leaves him. As a riot breaks out, Jude attempts to reach Lucy through a crowd. He is arrested and placed in jail, where he’s informed he’ll be deported. The movie ends as Jude returns to the US, passes a citizenship test, and rekindles his relationship with Lucy.
The movie incorporates Beatles songs into their plot, the characters being based off their lyrics. The plots intensifies as the escalation of the Vietnam War causes more and more hardships on American society. Realistic to the times, Jude’s drug abuse creates a gap between him and Lucy. Lucy exclaims, “I would lie down in front of a tank if it brought Max home,” Jude coldly replies, “Yeah? Well, it wouldn’t.”