The Lost Bus: A thrilling survival story begging to be seen in theaters

There’s a long history of movies based on “true stories” of incredible acts of heroism in the face of disaster. In fact, The Lost Bus director, Paul Greengrass has directed several of them himself (United 93, Captain Phillips). So, it’s no surprise that he’s up to the challenge of telling another harrowing survival tale with his new movie, The Lost Bus, based on the recent deadly wildfire in Paradise, CA. Thankfully it delivers on the genres’ ideal; it's a genuinely compelling human story that never takes its foot off the gas (pun intended). 

The Lost Bus is a retelling of the 2018 “Camp Fire,” the deadliest wildfire in California's history, which resulted in 85 human fatalities and $16.5 billion in damage. Our entry point into the story is Kevin McKay (a handsome and haggard-as-ever Matthew McConaughey) who is at a personal low point. His sick, beloved dog has to be put to sleep, he’s falling behind at his job as a school bus driver, and his son (played by McConaughey’s own son, Levi) wants nothing to do with him. Unfortunately, it’s also November 8, 2018, the day the Camp Fire began, and things are about to get much worse for poor McKay. Fortunately for the audience, after some brief, somewhat clunky exposition, the movie never stops moving. 

After word hits that the fire is spreading, an evacuation order goes into effect for Paradise, California. McKay, on his way home from work to help his sick son, agrees to pick up a group of 22 school children who need to be driven to a safe drop off point to reconnect with their parents. Greengrass builds tension fast as McConaughey rushes to the school to help the stranded students. He sees pillars of smoke rising as he frantically drives through town, narrowly avoiding the droves of cars trying to get out of the area as the fire approaches. The film is shot so close that you can almost feel the beads of sweat dripping down his face as the reality of what is happening dawns on McKay. McConaughey sells mad panic in a way few other actors can (see True Detective), and watching him careen through a doomed town on a school bus is a thrilling journey. Given the reckless and panicked nature of his driving, it's astonishing he never actually crashed. When he finally picks up the students and their teacher, Mary Lugwig (the always fantastic America Ferrera), the fire has engulfed the town and there is seemingly no way out.

While the story is largely told through the perspective of McKay and his singular journey to save a school bus full of children, the movie also focuses on the disaster at a higher level. There are several scenes of The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) trying to make a plan to save and evacuate the people of Paradise as the fire encroaches. The wind speeds of the fire were so bad that most of their attempts to put out the fire by aircraft failed and ultimately many of the townspeople were left to their own devices to save themselves. While not as compelling as watching Matthew McConaughey offroad a school bus through giant flames, these scenes are important because they highlight the impacts of corporate negligence (the fire was initially caused by a downed power line in need of maintenance) and the brutal impacts of climate change. In one scene, the outraged fire chief grabs the microphone at a press conference to angrily tell the audience, “There are more fires every year and they keep getting bigger. We are fools!” It’s a brief moment to remind the audience that even though acts of heroism like McKay’s are inspiring and worthy of all the praise bestowed upon them, we are still facing an even bigger challenge in the rapidly changing global climate that causes these increasingly frequent massive disasters. 

When the story refocuses on our hero, McKay, we hit all the regular beats of a heroic survival story, but in the hands of Greengrass and McConaughey, the film leaves you breathless in its retelling of the bus’ journey through hell. Seriously, Greengrass shoots the growing wildfires in Paradise as if they were the fires of Mordor. It’s a dark, smoky, claustrophobic hellscape as McKay and Lugwig desperately search for water, try to keep toxic smoke out of the bus, and keep 22 small children alive as towering flames encroach around them. Their search for a way out of the wildfire seems increasingly improbable as every road is blocked off or actively on fire. Even if you know how the story plays out, there is still real tension and devastation in watching McConaughey and Ferrera try to cope with the reality of their situation. Even when the movie falls into the slightly unbelievable (these 22 kids are the best behaved elementary students in the history of public schools), the acting rises above it to bring real humanity to the characters of McKay and Lugwig. Their growing relationship is a real highlight of the movie and I loved watching them work together on screen to save the children and themselves. 

I fortunately had the experience of seeing this movie in IMAX, which is definitely how a movie like this should be seen. The film was recently bought by  Apple TV+ and will soon go to streaming, but please, if you can and are interested, go see this movie in a big theater. For all of its feel good inspirational story, the movie also shares a lot in common with William Friedkin's Sorcerer, except that in this movie, instead of transporting dynamite through a dangerous jungle, they are transporting literal children through the most devastating wildfire in California history. That just begs to be seen and heard on the big screen. Matthew McConaughey is one of the most compulsively watchable movie stars working right now and he does not disappoint as he white knuckles a school bus through total devastation. 

The Lost Bus is everything you can want from a movie like this; great acting, heroes to root for, a story that never loses speed (even when the bus breaks down), and a broader message about how man-made climate change is capable of destroying the communities we love. Sure, it’s not perfect and definitely falls into some of the cliche traps of movies based on “inspirational true stories,” but if you can get over that, you’re in for a wild ride on a school bus through climate change hell. So, If that sounds up your alley, go check out this movie in a theater before it gets unfairly sentenced to streaming exile.

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