Not suitable under 13; parental guidance to 14 (themes, disturbing scenes, drug references)
This topic contains:
Children under 13 | Not suitable due to themes, disturbing scenes and drug references |
Children aged 13-14 | Parental guidance recommended due to themes, disturbing scenes and drug references. |
Children over the age of 14 | Ok for this age group. |
This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.
Name of movie: | Across the Universe |
Classification: | M |
Consumer advice lines: | Moderate violence, Infrequent moderate coarse language, Drug references and nudity |
Length: | 133 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
Across the Universe is a lively musical set in the 60’s. It interweaves the songs written by the Beatles with the story of Jude (Jim Sturgess) who travels across the Atlantic from Liverpool to the USA to find the father he has never known. Jude is befriended by a college dropout, Max (Joe Anderson), who introduces Jude to his sister Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood). Jude and Max move to an apartment in New York together.
After Lucy’s boyfriend is killed in Vietnam she joins Max in New York and she and Jude fall in love. Jude tries to make a living as a graphic artist while Lucy is studying at university. The plot turns serious when Max is called up to fight in the Vietnam War. Lucy joins the Vietnam moratorium marches but gets caught up in a radical anti-war movement that goes further than she had expected. Her political activity separates her from Jude who is arrested in a riot and sent back to Liverpool.
Unable to resume his life in Liverpool and forget Lucy, Jude returns to America to see if he can rekindle their relationship.
Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.
War, political protest, drug use.
Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.
Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.
There is some violence in this movie including:
Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.
In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:
Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.
Children in this age group may also be disturbed by the above-mentioned scenes.
Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.
In addition to the above mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged eight to thirteen, including the following:
Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.
Some children in this age group could be disturbed by the violence and the anti-authoritarian culture in this movie.
None noted.
There are some sexual references in this movie, including:
There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:
There is some use of substances in this movie, including:
There is some coarse language in this movie, including:
Across the Universe is a colourful, highly original musical that captures the essence of the late 1960’s. The imagery is very powerful and surreal at times, capturing both the peace-loving, free-thinking spirit of the time and the turbulence of anti-war riots and the terrible realities of war.
This movie could give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:
Tip: Leave out the first A, An or The
Selecting an age will provide a list of movies with content suitable for this age group. Children may also enjoy movies selected via a lower age.
Content is age appropriate for children this age
Some content may not be appropriate for children this age. Parental guidance recommended
Content is not age appropriate for children this age
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