Best movies like Across the Universe

Similar in 89%

Hairspray (2007)

Plot Summary:

Pleasantly plump teenager, Tracy Turnblad and her best friend, Penny Pingleton audition to be on The Corny Collins Show – and Tracy wins. But when scheming Amber Von Tussle and her mother plot to destroy Tracy, it turns to chaos.

Similar in 78%

Hair (1979)

Plot Summary:

"Hair" is a 1979 musical war comedy-drama film adaptation of the 1968 Broadway musical "Hair: An American Tribal Love-Rock Musical" about a Vietnam War draftee, Claude, who meets and befriends a tribe of long-haired hippies on his way to the army induction center. Claude heads to New York upon receiving his draft notice, leaving the family ranch in Oklahoma. He arrives in New York where he is rapidly indoctrinated into the youth subculture before reporting in for boot camp.

Similar in 78%

Taking Woodstock (2009)

Plot Summary:

The story of Elliot Tiber and his family, who inadvertently played a pivotal role in making the famed Woodstock Music and Arts Festival into the happening that it was. When Elliot hears that a neighboring town has pulled the permit on a hippie music festival, he calls the producers thinking he could drum up some much-needed business for his parents' run-down motel. Three weeks later, half a million people are on their way to his neighbor’s farm in White Lake, New York, and Elliot finds himself swept up in a generation-defining experience that would change his life–and American culture–forever.

Similar in 76%

Nowhere Boy (2009)

Plot Summary:

The drama tells the story of Lennon's teenage years and the start of his journey to becoming a successful musician. The story also examines the impact on his early life and personality of the two dominant females in his childhood.

Similar in 88%

The Best of Youth (2003)

Plot Summary:

Spanning four decades, from the chaotic 1960s to the present, director Marco Tullio Giordana's passionate epic 'La Meglio Gioventu' follows two Italian brothers through some of the most tumultuous events of recent Italian history.

Similar in 88%

Step Up Revolution (2012)

Plot Summary:

Emily arrives in Miami with aspirations to become a professional dancer. She sparks with Sean, the leader of a dance crew whose neighborhood is threatened by Emily's father's development plans.

Similar in 85%

Footloose (1984)

Plot Summary:

When teenager Ren and his family move from big-city Chicago to a small town in the West, he's in for a real case of culture shock.

Similar in 82%

Rock of Ages (2012)

Plot Summary:

A small town girl and a city boy meet on the Sunset Strip, while pursuing their Hollywood dreams.

Similar in 88%

Burlesque (2010)

Plot Summary:

The Burlesque Lounge has its best days behind it. Tess, a retired dancer and owner of the venue, struggles to keep the aging theater alive, facing all kinds of financial and artistic challenges. With the Lounge's troupe members becoming increasingly distracted by personal problems and a threat coming from a wealthy businessman's quest to buy the spot from Tess, the good fortune seems to have abandoned the club altogether. Meanwhile, the life of Ali, a small-town girl from Iowa, is about to change dramatically. Hired by Tess as a waitress at the Lounge, Ali escapes a hollow past and quickly falls in love with the art of burlesque. Backed by newfound friends amongst the theater's crew, she manages to fulfill her dreams of being on stage herself. Things take a dramatic turn though when Ali's big voice makes her become the main attraction of the revue.

Similar in 86%

Dreamgirls (2006)

Plot Summary:

Three young women – Deena Jones, Effie White and Lorrell Robinson – dream of becoming pop stars and they get their wish when they're chosen to be backup singers for the legendary James 'Thunder' Early.

Similar in 86%

La La Land (2016)

Plot Summary:

Mia, an aspiring actress, serves lattes to movie stars in between auditions and Sebastian, a jazz musician, scrapes by playing cocktail party gigs in dingy bars, but as success mounts they are faced with decisions that begin to fray the fragile fabric of their love affair, and the dreams they worked so hard to maintain in each other threaten to rip them apart.

Similar in 83%

Walk the Line (2005)

Plot Summary:

A chronicle of country music legend Johnny Cash's life, from his early days on an Arkansas cotton farm to his rise to fame with Sun Records in Memphis, where he recorded alongside Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins.

Similar in 87%

Sid and Nancy (1986)

Plot Summary:

Following their breakout success in England, flagship punk rock band the Sex Pistols venture out on their first U.S. tour. Temperamental bassist Sid Vicious takes his troubled girlfriend, Nancy Spungen, along for the ride. Along the way, the couple's turbulent relationship strains the patience of bandmate Johnny Rotten and manager Malcolm McLaren, while plunging Sid and Nancy into the depths of drug addiction and co-dependency.

Similar in 88%

The Phantom of the Opera (2004)

Plot Summary:

Deformed since birth, a bitter man known only as the Phantom lives in the sewers underneath the Paris Opera House. He falls in love with the obscure chorus singer Christine, and privately tutors her while terrorizing the rest of the opera house and demanding Christine be given lead roles. Things get worse when Christine meets back up with her childhood acquaintance Raoul and the two fall in love.

Similar in 77%

Once (2007)

Plot Summary:

A vacuum repairman moonlights as a street musician and hopes for his big break. One day a Czech immigrant, who earns a living selling flowers, approaches him with the news that she is also an aspiring singer-songwriter. The pair decide to collaborate, and the songs that they compose reflect the story of their blossoming love.

Similar in 86%

Les Misérables (2012)

Plot Summary:

An adaptation of the successful stage musical based on Victor Hugo's classic novel set in 19th-century France, in which a paroled prisoner named Jean Valjean seeks redemption.

Similar in 78%

I'm Not There (2007)

Plot Summary:

Six actors portray six personas of music legend Bob Dylan in scenes depicting various stages of his life, chronicling his rise from unknown folksinger to international icon and revealing how Dylan constantly reinvented himself.

Similar in 75%

High Fidelity (2000)

Plot Summary:

When record store owner Rob Gordon gets dumped by his girlfriend, Laura, because he hasn't changed since they met, he revisits his top five breakups of all time in an attempt to figure out what went wrong. As Rob seeks out his former lovers to find out why they left, he keeps up his efforts to win Laura back.

Similar in 76%

Dirty Dancing (1987)

Plot Summary:

Expecting the usual tedium that accompanies a summer in the Catskills with her family, 17-year-old Frances 'Baby' Houseman is surprised to find herself stepping into the shoes of a professional hoofer – and unexpectedly falling in love.

Similar in 80%

The Doors (1991)

Plot Summary:

The story of the famous and influential 1960's rock band and its lead singer and composer, Jim Morrison.

Similar in 75%

Edward Scissorhands (1990)

Plot Summary:

A small suburban town receives a visit from a castaway unfinished science experiment named Edward.

Similar in 79%

Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights (2004)

Plot Summary:

In pre-revolution Cuba, Katey Miller is about to defy everyone's expectations. Instead of a parent-approved suitor, Katey is drawn to the sexy waiter, Javier, who spends his nights dancing in Havana's nightclubs. As she secretly learns to dance with Javier, she learns the meanings of love, sensuality and independence.

Similar in 90%

One Day (2011)

Plot Summary:

A romantic comedy centered on Dexter and Emma, who first meet during their graduation in 1988 and proceed to keep in touch regularly. The film follows what they do on July 15 annually, usually doing something together.

Similar in 85%

Pink Floyd: The Wall (1982)

Plot Summary:

A troubled rock star descends into madness in the midst of his physical and social isolation from everyone.

Similar in 90%

SLC Punk! (1998)

Plot Summary:

Two former geeks become 1980s punks, then party and go to concerts while deciding what to do with their lives.

Similar in 89%

Wristcutters: A Love Story (2006)

Plot Summary:

Zia, distraught over breaking up with his girlfriend, decides to end it all. Unfortunately, he discovers that there is no real ending, only a run-down afterlife that is strikingly similar to his old one, just a bit worse. Discovering that his ex-girlfriend has also "offed" herself, he sets out on a road trip, with his Russian rocker friend, to find her. Their journey takes them through an absurd purgatory where they discover that being dead doesn't mean you have to stop livin'!.

Similar in 90%

Moulin Rouge! (2001)

Plot Summary:

A celebration of love and creative inspiration takes place in the infamous, gaudy and glamorous Parisian nightclub, at the cusp of the 20th century. A young poet, who is plunged into the heady world of Moulin Rouge, begins a passionate affair with the club's most notorious and beautiful star.

Similar in 75%

Big Fish (2003)

Plot Summary:

Throughout his life Edward Bloom has always been a man of big appetites, enormous passions and tall tales. In his later years, he remains a huge mystery to his son, William. Now, to get to know the real man, Will begins piecing together a true picture of his father from flashbacks of his amazing adventures.

Similar in 87%

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

Plot Summary:

Tells the story of Benjamin Button, a man who starts aging backwards with bizarre consequences.

Similar in 84%

Forrest Gump (1994)

Plot Summary:

A man with a low IQ has accomplished great things in his life and been present during significant historic events - in each case, far exceeding what anyone imagined he could do. Yet, despite all the things he has attained, his one true love eludes him. 'Forrest Gump' is the story of a man who rose above his challenges, and who proved that determination, courage, and love are more important than ability.