There has been no shortage of intense experiences on the 2025 movie schedule (with more surely on the way), and The Lost Bus is near the top of that list. I recently checked out the new Matthew McConaughey movie with my Apple TV+ subscription. While I had a feeling this survival thriller based on a true story was going to be intense, I had no idea it would rock me like this.
As a parent who sends their kids off to school on a bus each day, I kept imagining a scenario where there was a massive wildfire between them and safety. Though I had a feeling that everything would be okay in the end (I didn’t hear any stories about 22 kids burning in the 2018 Camp Fire), this movie had me on edge way more than I initially anticipated.
Kevin And Mary Not Knowing If Their Own Children Survived The Fire Made It So Much More Intense
The concept of The Last Bus – a school bus driver goes to extreme lengths to save 22 children and their teacher from a devastating wildfire – is already intense on its own, but then there’s the whole parenting element of the story that I wasn’t expecting. Not only do Kevin McKay (Matthew McConaughey) and Mary Ludwig (America Ferrera) have to worry about saving the young grade-schoolers, they also have to deal with the fact that they are not there to keep their own kids safe. In fact, they have no idea if they’re even alive when all of this is going down.
As a parent, this is my worst nightmare. I have an app that tracks my kids’ buses from the time they pick them up until they’re dropped back off in the afternoon. Not being able to keep tabs on them while the world burns around me is something I hope I never have to go through. Seriously, I’m on edge just thinking about it now.
For A Few Minutes There, I Didn't Think Anyone Would Survive The Lost Bus
Before pressing play on The Last Bus, I didn’t go back and see how things worked out for the real Kevin McKay and the group of young schoolchildren during the 2018 Camp Fire. I didn’t want to 1) ruin the story for myself, and 2) discover that it wasn’t a successful rescue (it was, don’t worry). That said, there were a few points throughout the movie where I was convinced that no one on that bus was going to survive the ordeal.
My wife and I tried to keep our nine-year-old daughter out of the room as the intensity ramped up, but to no avail. Luckily, things didn’t turn out like the heartbreaking and gut-wrenching Manchester by the Sea, though there were a few times when I couldn’t help but start crying.
The Fire Being Treated Like A Living, Breathing Monster Didn't Help Lessen The Tension
Adding to the intensity of The Lost Bus was the way in which director Paul Greengrass and his visual effects team treated the fire as if it were a living, breathing monster. You know how the asteroid in Armageddon is constantly hissing, groaning and growling whenever it's shown in the iconic disaster film? Well, it’s sort of like that with the Camp Fire, especially when the camera starts flying through the smoke, flames and embers pushing towards Kevin and that bus of kids.
While I don’t think The Lost Bus was a perfect film by any means, the way it plays on the emotions and nerves of the audiences (especially those of us with kids), made this thriller all the more intense.
