Bono: Stories of Surrender
| Bono: Stories of Surrender | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Andrew Dominik |
| Produced by | Meredith Bennett Dede Gardner Jon Kamen Jeremy Kleiner Brad Pitt Alec Sash Dave Sirulnick |
| Starring | Bono |
| Cinematography | Erik Messerschmidt |
| Edited by | Lasse Järvi |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Apple TV+ |
Release dates | |
Running time | 86 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Bono: Stories of Surrender is a 2025 American documentary film about the Irish musician Bono, directed by Andrew Dominik. The film documents a 2023 performance by Bono at the Beacon Theatre in New York City during his one-man stage show "Stories of Surrender: An Evening of Words, Music and Some Mischief...", which was undertaken to promote his 2022 memoir Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story.
The film had its world premiere at the Special Screenings section of the 78th Cannes Film Festival on May 16, 2025, where it received a seven-minute standing ovation.[1] It was released on Apple TV+ on May 30, 2025,[2] as both a standard 2D film and an Apple Immersive Video for the Apple Vision Pro headset, making it the first feature-length film to be released in the format.[3] Preceding the film's release, an abridged version of Bono's memoir that follows the narrative arc of the film was released in paperback, also under the title Bono: Stories of Surrender. An EP of the same name with live performances of three songs accompanied the film's release on May 30.[4]
Reception
[edit]On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 71% of 34 critics' reviews are positive.[5] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 57 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[6]
Steve Pond of TheWrap wrote, "It's bombastic, extravagant and melodramatic at times – but I don't use those words as pejoratives, because in the hands of Bono and Dominik, it's also pretty glorious, a mashup of Bono's life and U2's music that refuses to be contained by the usual boundaries of an author's tour or a one-man show."[7]
Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "The musical interludes — which include gorgeous versions of such songs as 'Sunday Bloody Sunday', 'Where the Streets Have No Name', 'Vertigo', 'Desire' and 'Beautiful Day', among others — provide a welcome contrast to the film's inevitable talkiness. Ditto the kinetic cinematography and editing, which give the proceedings an arresting cinematic quality."[8]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Bono Rocks Cannes With 7-Minute Standing Ovation for 'Stories of Surrender'". Variety. May 16, 2025. Retrieved May 20, 2025.
- ^ a b "Apple Original Films announces groundbreaking new documentary event 'Bono: Stories of Surrender,' premiering globally on May 30 on Apple TV+". Apple.com. February 26, 2025. Retrieved May 20, 2025.
- ^ Fleming Jr., Mike (February 26, 2025). "Apple Sets Premiere Of 'Bono: Stories Of Surrender;' U2 Singer's Docu To Include First Immersive Feature Version For Apple Vision Pro". Deadline. Retrieved May 20, 2025.
- ^ Armstrong, Sam (May 16, 2025). "Bono Releases 'Stories of Surrender Live' EP". uDiscover Music. Retrieved May 22, 2025.
- ^ "Bono: Stories of Surrender". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved May 30, 2025.
- ^ "Bono: Stories of Surrender". Metacritic. Retrieved May 30, 2025.
- ^ Pond, Steve (May 16, 2025). "'Bono: Stories of Surrender' Review: U2 Frontman's Life Story Is Grand and Bombastic, the Way We Like It". TheWrap. Retrieved May 20, 2025.
- ^ Scheck, Frank (May 16, 2025). "'Bono: Stories of Surrender' Review: Andrew Dominik's Apple TV+ Doc Aims Loving Spotlight on the Music and the Man". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 20, 2025.