AppleTV’s latest feature is a terrifying inferno ravaging a town in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Northern California. I didn’t realize until after I saw it that it’s based on a true story that happened in 2018, where bus driver Kevin McKay and teacher Mary Ludwig end up saving 22 children during one of California’s deadliest wildfires. Paul Greengrass is the right filmmaker for the job, as he’s got a penchant for making thrillers based on real events, i.e., Captain Phillips, 22 July, United 93, among others. Drawing from his experience in documentary filmmaking and journalism, his cinema-verité approach makes for an immersive and visceral experience.

Matthew McConaughey portrays Kevin, and America Ferrera portrays Mary, and I think both are excellent despite not looking at all like the real-life heroes. That’s not exactly important here anyway; what matters is that they convincingly bring their incredible survival tale to life. The Lost Bus unfolds over the course of a single day in November, beginning like any other day until a faulty PG&E power line ignites the dry brush beneath it, rapidly spreading due to strong winds.

Greengrass skillfully combines real fire effects with CGI to depict the devastating blaze, resulting in a gripping experience that occasionally feels like a horror flick. It’s particularly intense with kids in the mix, and there were moments when I genuinely questioned if they would make it out alive. Instead of confining the action only within the school bus, Greengrass creates a variety of scenarios, each more perilous than the last. The high-stakes scenario inside the school bus is intertwined with the super-stressful drama unfolding with the Cal Fire team, led by Chief Martinez (Yul Vazquez), as they fight the flames and coordinate evacuation efforts. They definitely have a tough job ahead as the situation grows increasingly dire.

Ferrera’s Mary really highlights how heroic teachers can be, as she never thinks about her own safety while taking care of the kids. At one point, she has to leave the bus to search for water for them while fire is raging all around, and she also has to handle potential criminals who are taking advantage of the chaos and looting people’s belongings.

The scene in the third act is quite nerve-wracking, especially since Kevin has to manage the bus overheating, too. It’s amazing what that school bus can endure, although the production did use several identical buses for different parts of the filming. Working with Norwegian DP Pål Ulvik Rokseth, Greengrass nailed the action scenes, effectively making the ride through the chaotic landscape feel unsettlingly real. The synth-driven soundtrack by renowned composer James Newton Howard ramps up the intensity without overshadowing the action.

What’s not as effective is Kevin’s marital drama, which feels like they’re just there to get us to feel sorry for him. The phone calls he has with his ex-wife are supposed to ramp up the tension he’s already dealing with, even before the whole survival bus ride thing happens. What’s notable is that there are three generations of McConaugheys in this movie: Matthew, his mom, Kay, and his oldest son, Levi, essentially playing themselves as Kevin’s mother and teenage son. The real stars are Matthew himself and Ferrera, who at times had to take turns driving the bus and calming the young students.

It’s interesting to note that Jamie Lee Curtis discovered this story through Lizzie Johnson’s book, Paradise: One Town’s Struggle to Survive an American Wildfire. She then brought Jason Blum on board, who usually works on horror films for his BlumHouse company, to co-produce it. I suppose it’s fitting as The Lost Bus has a strong survival horror aspect, which can be scarier than made-up horror because it’s rooted in real events.

During the summer, wildfires were raging in Canada, sending smoke and haze all the way to Minnesota. It was hard for me to watch this movie at times, but I can only imagine that it might hit too close to home for Californians, reliving the inferno that devastated 153,336 acres of land. However, the cool thing about movies like this is that they shine a light on real-life heroes like Kevin and Mary, while also paying tribute to the courageous efforts of those who chose not to be in the film. The Lost Bus is now streaming on AppleTV.

Have you seen THE LOST BUS? I’d love to hear what you think!