The Lost Bus isn’t the live action Ms. Frizzle adaptation we deserve but it’s an exciting, straightforward depiction of survival against all odds. Based on a true story, the movie is about a bus driver and teacher who attempt to rescue 22 children from the deadly Camp Fire that wiped out Paradise, CA in 2018. 

Matthew McConaughey and America Ferrera star as Kevin and Mary. On the acting front, The Lost Bus is pretty basic: neither role is particularly challenging or head turning. The script doesn’t attempt to do anything creative, coughing up two characters who are easy to empathize with but who could have just as easily appeared in a TV movie (since The Lost Bus was released directly to Apple TV+, it effectively is). 

Where it catches fire is the direction, unsurprising given who is behind the camera. Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremacy) wastes little time plunging the audience into the inferno, a literal hell on Earth. You can practically feel the flames, smell the smoke. 

It’s exciting stuff, mostly, even though it’s pretty safe to assume the outcome (I didn’t know the true story going in, but I imagined that there wouldn’t be much desire in making a big-budget movie where a bunch of children burn to death on a school bus). 

Tense though perhaps too simple to truly ignite, The Lost Bus is an effective true-life survival thriller that is worth checking out if you already have an Apple subscription. 

Review by Erik Samdahl. Erik is a marketing and technology executive by day, avid movie lover by night. He is a member of the Seattle Film Critics Society.