Co-writer Paul Greengrass (United 93, Green Zone, Captain Phillips, News of the World, and three of the Jason Bourne franchise films) directs this screenplay he wrote with Brad Ingelsby (Out of the Furnace, Run All Night, Mare of Easttown) based on a segment of San Francisco Chronicle journalist Lizzie Johnson’s 2021 nonfiction book Paradise: One Town’s Struggle to Survive an American Wildfire about the 2018 Camp Fire. The Lost Bus focuses on Kevin McKay (Mathew McConaughey), a school bus driver who answers an emergency call and rescues 22 school children and their teacher, Mary Ludwig (America Ferrera), but must navigate the raging wildfire to drive them to safety. (129 min.)
The Lost Bus
What’s it rated? R
What’s it worth, Anna? Full price
What’s it worth, Glen? Full price
Where’s it showing? Apple TV+
Glen: What an incredible true story of survival and courage. McKay got the call that the kids and their two teachers (one didn’t want to be named so she was excluded from the story) were trapped at Ponderosa Elementary and needed evacuation. Over the next five hours, he drove the group 30 miles through gridlocked traffic and choking smoke and flames. The Camp Fire remains one of the deadliest and most destructive wildfires in California history, with 18,000 structures lost and 85 fatalities. PG&E was found responsible for the fire due to a poorly maintained transmission line. The whole thing was a tragedy, and this gripping drama captures the desperation. It feels gritty and real, and you can almost smell the acrid smoke. Greengrass knows how to chronicle a disaster.
Anna: Disaster films are always intense, but when you know it’s chronicling a real-life tragedy and following the lives of real people, it adds even more depth to the intensity. McKay is back in his hometown following the death of his father and is trying to care for his aging and ailing mother as well as his teen son. McConaughey’s portrayal gives us a snapshot of a man unsettled in his reality. He feels put upon by his life, and he can’t seem to catch a break. His boss at the bus depot, Ruby (Ashlie Atkinson), is riding him to get the bus he’s on to maintenance ASAP, but with the looming walls of smoke closing in around him, all McKay can think about is getting home. When the school that Mary teaches at has to evacuate, even his plans to get home get derailed. Soon McKay has to use gut instinct and sheer force of will to save himself and the many children on his bus. It is a harrowing and claustrophobic experience as the group runs into one wall of fire after another.
Glen: This film is something of a family affair. McConaughey’s son, Levi, stars as McKay’s son, Shaun, and his mother, Kay McCabe McConaughey, stars as Sherry, McKay’s disabled mother. These side stories allow us a reprieve from the claustrophobia of the bus and help humanize the characters. They feel like real people with lives to get back to. Mary’s side story is that she’s only traveled from the town of Paradise once. It’s a regret we want her to live to put behind her. I have no idea if these side stories are real or fiction to add to the emotion, but even if it’s creative license, it doesn’t distract from the truth. Though deeply frightened, McKay and Mary kept 22 kids safe through a death-defying event. Ferrera and McConaughey both turned in intense performances.
Anna: Films like this can be tricky to keep engaging since we spend a lot of time in one setting—in this case on the bus and surrounded by fire. The side drama helps. I hope everyone who went through this experience is thriving today. From the coda, it seems that both Kevin and Mary went on to have fulfilling lives. This film does its best to convey the truly terrifying event that these people lived through.
New Times Arts Editor Glen Starkey and freelancer Anna Starkey write Sun Screen. Comment at gstarkey@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Oct 16 – Oct 23, 2025.