When it trusts its performers (and its audience), Paul Greengrass’s “The Lost Bus” is an immersive experience, something that should be seen loud and in one sitting instead of broken up on a small screen like so many Apple TV+ movies end up. It’s a reminder of how good the director of “United 93” and “Captain Philips” can be at transporting us to unimaginable circumstances, and it plays like a truly phenomenal disaster movie that happens to be true, one of those flicks you almost always watch the last hour of if you catch on cable. There are sequences in this film that are truly terrifying as Greengrass and his team block out the sun and set the earth on fire. It does enough of that, and does it so well, that the screenwriting flaws are easy enough to overlook, but they do hold the project back from being what it could have with a bit more trust.
Kevin McKay (Matthew McConaughey) is in a truly dark chapter of his life. His wife has left him. His son Shaun (Levi McConaughey) hates him and wishes he was dead. His mom Sherry (kay McCabe McConaughey) is increasingly unaware of her surroundings. Even his dog dies in a truly “let’s make this guy as miserable as possible” first act. In one of the most ridiculously scripted character background dumps in years, Kevin’s wife lays out all of his trauma, including a rough relationship with his recently deceased dad, on speakerphone just so the audience fully understands how much Kevin’s life sucks. His kid even gets a fever on one of the most historic days in the history of California. None of this is necessary for us to care about Kevin McKay or the heroism that will unfold. In fact, it serves the opposite purpose: reminding us that this is a manipulative movie, and it’s disappointing to see Greengrass and his talented co-writer Brad Ingelsby (“Task,” “Mare of Easttown”) strike such out-of-tune chords. “The Lost Bus” might actually work better if you just the skip the first half hour.
To be fair, Yul Vazquez does strong work in that stretch as Ray Martinez, the Cal Fire Battalion Chief who was called in on that fateful in 2018 when a power line ignited ground that hadn’t seen rain in seven months. The Camp Fire moved like a runaway train, jumping to small towns and becoming almost instantly unstoppable. Vazquez is effective at playing the situation and not to the cameras, making the rising panic and shouted orders of his crew the backdrop for the human story unfolding across town.
That’s where Kevin answers a call from his dispatcher (Ashlie Atkinson) to pick up 23 kids at an elementary school and get them to safety. At first, it doesn’t seem that difficult, but everyone in the area of Paradise, California underestimated how quickly this blaze would move, and how hard it would be to evacuate as it did. Stuck in traffic with enough smoke in the air to block the sun, Kevin and a teacher named Mary Ludwig (America Ferrera) do their best to keep the kids calm, even as their panic is rising. Cutting through traffic, trying shortcuts, blocking the children from seeing people literally on fire. The actual action of “The Lost Bus” is white-knuckle riveting. It’s powerfully immersive stuff—so much so that I didn’t realize until about 100 minutes in that I hadn’t paused to consider how they were doing it. (It’s probably some green screen and some stunt work.) Of course, there isn’t a bus of children actually avoiding a deadly blaze, but I was so caught up in the immediacy of what Greengrass and his tech team accomplish here that it carried me away. There’s a particularly effective sequence in which Mary actually gets off the bus to find water that will have your heart racing.
We don’t need to know Kevin’s dog just died to want to see him save these kids, Mary, and himself. It’s that simple. And the truth is that McConaughey can convey all of that back story that’s been turned into front story just through his body language and cadence. He’s a remarkably consistent actor: always good and sometimes great. This is actually his first on-screen role (ignoring voice work) of the 2020s. (He’s also in the even-better “The Rivals of Amziah King” that played at SXSW but this one is dropping in theaters first.) It’s a reminder of how believable he can be on-screen, finding that balance between charisma and everyman qualities that makes someone a movie star.
Critics have been beating this drum loudly for years, but “The Lost Bus” truly does feel like one of those films that’s going to be a victim of the streaming wars. Sure, it’s getting a limited theatrical release, but its landing on Apple two weeks later means most people will see in that way. I’m not being a purist when I say don’t watch this on your phone. Don’t watch it in chunks while you do something else. Sit down and turn it up loud. Let it carry you away like the best disaster movies do. Let it transport you. Well, maybe after the first half-hour.
This review was filed from the world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. It opens on September 19, on Apple TV+ on October 3.
