# Bono: Stories of Surrender
**Bono: Stories of Surrender** is a 2025 documentary and concert film on Apple TV+ in which the U2 singer Bono (Paul David Hewson) performs his one-man stage show, telling stories from his life between stripped-down renditions of U2 songs. Directed by [Andrew Dominik](https://www.edgepedia.org/andrew-dominik) and shot in black and white at New York's Beacon Theatre, it adapts the stage show "Stories of Surrender: An Evening of Words, Music and Some Mischief…", which Bono created from his 2022 memoir *Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story*.[1](https://www.apple.com/tv-pr/originals/bono-stories-of-surrender/) • [2](https://apnews.com/article/46f7b03ea09d80f36975e5eb230fba0b)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | Apple TV+, May 30, 2025; premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 16, 2025[1](https://www.apple.com/tv-pr/originals/bono-stories-of-surrender/) • [3](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/may/16/bono-stories-of-surrender-review-megastar-tries-out-humility) |
| Director | Andrew Dominik (*Blonde*, *Killing Them Softly*)[2](https://apnews.com/article/46f7b03ea09d80f36975e5eb230fba0b) |
| Source | One-man stage show adapted from the 2022 memoir *Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story*[2](https://apnews.com/article/46f7b03ea09d80f36975e5eb230fba0b) |
| Filming | Beacon Theatre, New York, during the 2023 run of the show, over several nights[4](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/bono-stories-of-surrender-apple-tv-documentary-film-review-2025) • [5](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-02/bono-stories-of-surrender/105347462) |
| Format | Black-and-white film, 86 minutes, part spoken word and part solo music performance[6](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/bono-stories-of-surrender) • [5](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-02/bono-stories-of-surrender/105347462) |
| Stage musicians | Arranger Jacknife Lee, harpist and vocalist Gemma Doherty, cellist Kate Ellis[7](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/tv-radio/2025/05/29/bono-documentary-u2-songs-of-surrender-film-apple-tv/) |
| Reception | Metascore 59 from 15 reviews; Rotten Tomatoes 77%[8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt35931046/criticreviews/) • [6](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/bono-stories-of-surrender) |
## Spoilers
### Content of the show
Bono performs alone, without his U2 bandmates [Adam Clayton](https://www.edgepedia.org/adam-clayton), David "The Edge" Evans, and Larry Mullen Jr, on a starkly lit stage with a few pieces of furniture standing in for key figures in his life.[3](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/may/16/bono-stories-of-surrender-review-megastar-tries-out-humility) • [5](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-02/bono-stories-of-surrender/105347462) He opens by conceding that "writing a memoir is a whole other level of navel-gazing," and the film begins with the 2016 operation on what he calls his "eccentric" heart, which prompted the question "How did I get here?"[7](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/tv-radio/2025/05/29/bono-documentary-u2-songs-of-surrender-film-apple-tv/) • [5](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-02/bono-stories-of-surrender/105347462)
**Family stories carry the show.** Bono's mother, Iris, collapsed and died at her own father's funeral when Bono was 14; his father, Bob, never mentioned her again, and his grief found an outlet in classical music. Bono recounts their barbed, bantering relationship, which only admitted affection at Bob's deathbed; Bob died of cancer in 2001.[3](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/may/16/bono-stories-of-surrender-review-megastar-tries-out-humility) • [10](https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/life/entertainment/celebrity/2025/05/27/bonos-stories-of-surrender) On stage, Bono plays both father and son in recreated pub meetings, with his father present as an empty chair and a glass of Black Bush whiskey.[5](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-02/bono-stories-of-surrender/105347462)
The narrative also covers his Dublin childhood, U2's rise to global fame, the band's early-1980s crisis of faith within the devout Christian sect Shalom, and his post-[Live Aid](https://www.edgepedia.org/live-aid) activism on poverty and famine relief, all interspersed with unplugged versions of U2 standards accompanied by harp and cello.[3](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/may/16/bono-stories-of-surrender-review-megastar-tries-out-humility) • [5](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-02/bono-stories-of-surrender/105347462) The film closes with "The Showman (Little More Better)" from U2's album *Songs of Experience*, the most recent song in the film by many years.[11](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tv/2025/05/30/bonos-memoir-gets-third-iteration-this-time-small-screen/)
## Origin: memoir, stage show, film
The project grew in stages from Bono's memoir *Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story*, published in 2022. A complicated cardiac operation in 2016 had led him to re-examine his life, a process that produced the book; to mark its publication he devised a one-man show and toured intimate theaters in the United States and Europe.[9](https://elpais.com/television/2025-06-06/bono-cuenta-su-vida-y-sus-traumas-en-un-monologo-todo-resulta-intenso-como-es-el.html) • [10](https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/life/entertainment/celebrity/2025/05/27/bonos-stories-of-surrender) Bono co-wrote the show with Bill Flanagan, a writer and longtime U2 collaborator.[10](https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/life/entertainment/celebrity/2025/05/27/bonos-stories-of-surrender) The Washington Post noted the precedent of *Springsteen on Broadway*, the solo show [Bruce Springsteen](https://www.edgepedia.org/bruce-springsteen) built from his own autobiography.[11](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tv/2025/05/30/bonos-memoir-gets-third-iteration-this-time-small-screen/)
The film is the third iteration of the same material, after the book and the stage tour. Andrew Dominik filmed it live on stage at the [Beacon Theatre](https://www.edgepedia.org/beacon-theatre-new-york-city) in 2023, and the movie also includes never-before-seen exclusive footage from the tour.[4](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/bono-stories-of-surrender-apple-tv-documentary-film-review-2025) • [1](https://www.apple.com/tv-pr/originals/bono-stories-of-surrender/) Some parts were recorded with an audience and others without.[9](https://elpais.com/television/2025-06-06/bono-cuenta-su-vida-y-sus-traumas-en-un-monologo-todo-resulta-intenso-como-es-el.html)
## Release and formats
The film premiered out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival on May 16, 2025, and began streaming on Apple TV+ on May 30.[3](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/may/16/bono-stories-of-surrender-review-megastar-tries-out-humility) • [2](https://apnews.com/article/46f7b03ea09d80f36975e5eb230fba0b) Alongside the standard 2D version, Apple released an edition for the [Apple Vision Pro](https://www.edgepedia.org/apple-vision-pro) headset as the first feature-length film in the Apple Immersive Video format.[12](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/apple-tv-plus/everything-new-on-apple-tv-plus-in-may-2025) • [13](https://www.netflixmovies.com/bono-stories-of-surrender-2025) Apple rates the film TV-MA; the runtime is 86 minutes.[1](https://www.apple.com/tv-pr/originals/bono-stories-of-surrender/) • [6](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/bono-stories-of-surrender)
## Reception
Critics generally responded to the intimacy of the format. The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw called it a confident, often engaging mix of music and no-frills theatrical performance in which Bono works to find a new register of humility.[3](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/may/16/bono-stories-of-surrender-review-megastar-tries-out-humility) NME scored it 80, calling the stage show "unmissable" as a film, and Screen Daily's Nikki Baughan described "an intense baring of the soul that is part performance, part confessional and all entertainment."[8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt35931046/criticreviews/) The film's Metascore settled at 59 from 15 reviews, while its audience score on IMDb is 7.2.[8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt35931046/criticreviews/) • [6](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/bono-stories-of-surrender) Reviewers noted that the audience is kept almost entirely out of focus, with the film performed for the camera rather than the crowd.[14](https://www.avclub.com/BONO-STORIES-OF-SURRENDER-REVIEW)
## References
1. [Bono: Stories of Surrender, Apple TV Press](https://www.apple.com/tv-pr/originals/bono-stories-of-surrender/)
2. [Bono: 'The world has never been closer to a world war in my lifetime', AP News](https://apnews.com/article/46f7b03ea09d80f36975e5eb230fba0b)
3. [Bono: Stories of Surrender review – megastar tries out humility in likable one-man show, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/may/16/bono-stories-of-surrender-review-megastar-tries-out-humility)
4. [Bono: Stories of Surrender movie review, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/bono-stories-of-surrender-apple-tv-documentary-film-review-2025)
5. [U2 singer Bono lays his life bare in one-man stage show Stories of Surrender, ABC News](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-02/bono-stories-of-surrender/105347462)
6. [Bono: Stories of Surrender streaming: watch online, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/bono-stories-of-surrender)
7. [Bono: Stories of Surrender review, The Irish Times](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/tv-radio/2025/05/29/bono-documentary-u2-songs-of-surrender-film-apple-tv/)
8. [Bono: Stories of Surrender (2025) – Metacritic reviews, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt35931046/criticreviews/)
9. [Bono cuenta su vida (y sus traumas) en un monólogo, El País](https://elpais.com/television/2025-06-06/bono-cuenta-su-vida-y-sus-traumas-en-un-monologo-todo-resulta-intenso-como-es-el.html)
10. [Bono's Stories of Surrender: Family and Music, The New Daily](https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/life/entertainment/celebrity/2025/05/27/bonos-stories-of-surrender)
11. [Bono's memoir gets a third iteration, this time on the small screen, The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tv/2025/05/30/bonos-memoir-gets-third-iteration-this-time-small-screen/)
12. [Everything new on Apple TV Plus in May 2025, Tom's Guide](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/apple-tv-plus/everything-new-on-apple-tv-plus-in-may-2025)
13. [Watch Bono: Stories of Surrender, NetflixMovies.com](https://www.netflixmovies.com/bono-stories-of-surrender-2025)
14. [Bono: Stories Of Surrender review, The A.V. Club](https://www.avclub.com/BONO-STORIES-OF-SURRENDER-REVIEW)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Films by genre, form, and subject › Documentary and biographical films › Individual documentary feature films*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license