REVIEW: Matthew McConaughey and America Ferrera star in action thriller The Lost Bus
Published September 9, 2025 at 2:12 pm
Matthew McConaughey and America Ferrera star in the harrowing action thriller, The Lost Bus, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.
The movie is based on the true story of a new school bus driver, Kevin McCay (McConaughey), who rescued 22 stranded children during the deadly Camp Fire in Paradise, California on Nov. 8, 2018.
Directed by Paul Greengrass (United 93), the film brings viewers into the fire as McConaughey drives down increasingly perilous roads as smoke and flames close in. Thick smoke plunges the bus into darkness, increasing the tension.
In real life, it took five hours for bus to reach safety.
McConaughey and Ferrera, as a teacher Mary, deliver convincing performances along with Yul Vazquez as Cal Fire Battalion Chief Ray Martinez and Ashlie Atkinson as McCay’s boss in the bus depot.
The film also stars McConaughey’s real son, Levi McConaughey, as his son Shaun.
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The movie touches on climate change briefly when the fire chief (Vazquez) speaks out at a press conference at the height of the blaze. He tells reporters these types of fires are getting bigger and we are all fools.
Vazquez told Your City Within that he was terrified when he first read the script. He knew the story of the fire and the real people who fought the fire.
“You are stepping into some big shoes and you have to honour that,” Vazquez said. “So that is intimidating.”
Atkinson said the movie dramatized events from the real incident, including her character telling parents they had lost contact with the bus carrying their children.
“I had a great time (working on the film) and it was a walk in the park in comparison to what these people have gone through,” Atkinson said.
She called Greengrass an extraordinary director and a really kind person.
“I followed him into fake fire, I feel like I would follow him into real fire,” she said.