Tickets $10/$9The documentary One to One: John & Yoko, directed by Kevin Macdonald and Sam Rice-Edwards, offers an immersive and intimate exploration of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s transformative 18-month period in New York City’s Greenwich Village during 1971-1972. Centered around the historic One to One benefit concerts at Madison Square Garden on August 30, 1972—Lennon’s only full-length performances post-Beatles—the film weaves together restored concert footage, previously unseen home movies, and private phone call recordings to paint a vivid portrait of the couple’s personal, artistic, and political evolution. The documentary captures their passionate activism, inspired by events like Geraldo Rivera’s exposé on the Willowbrook State School, and their deep engagement with the era’s countercultural movements, set against a backdrop of Vietnam War protests and Nixon’s America. Sean Ono Lennon’s remixed audio enhances the electrifying performances, including hits like “Imagine” and “Give Peace a Chance,” making the film a powerful tribute to the couple’s enduring legacy. “One to One: John & Yoko becomes not just an enormously moving historical portrait but a freshly relevant and cathartic one,” praises Metacritic, highlighting its emotional depth and contemporary resonance.
Macdonald’s innovative approach, blending a dizzying array of archival TV clips with a meticulously reconstructed model of the couple’s Bank Street apartment, creates a sensory time capsule that feels both nostalgic and startlingly immediate. The film avoids conventional documentary tropes like talking heads, instead letting Lennon and Ono’s own words and images guide the narrative, offering fresh insights into their creative partnership and radical idealism. From their interactions with figures like Jerry Rubin and Allen Ginsberg to Ono’s struggles with her daughter Kyoko’s custody, the documentary humanizes these icons while reflecting the turbulent socio-political landscape of the early 1970s. Critics have lauded its vibrant energy and unique perspective: “It’s the movie you didn’t think you’d want that turns out to be one of the few recent Beatles products you’ll need,” declares Rolling Stone, while The Guardian calls it “a fun, fierce and full-blooded take” that “makes Lennon feel somehow vital again.”
With its premiere at the Venice Film Festival and screenings at Sundance, One to One: John & Yoko is a must-see for fans and newcomers alike.