The wind is the first thing you notice throughout Paul Greengrass’ latest true-life thriller, The Lost Bus. As it wafts over the California hills, it rustles through the trees and picks up dust. When it encounters heavy electrical wires, the metal groans and creeks as if being woken up from a deep, interrupted sleep. Greengrass has made a film about the strength of nature but, at the same time, he taps into that Everyman type of storytelling that has made audiences grasp onto his previous works so desperately. Apple TV+’s The Lost Bus chronicles the deadliest wildfire to decimate California, and once you board, it doesn’t let go.
I couldn’t help but think of Greengrass’ greatest triumph, United 93, while watching his latest film. Only five years had passed since the attacks on September 11, 2001 when that film was released to critical acclaim. It’s a gripping, first-hand account of the citizens who lost their lives in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and it blurs the line between reality and dramatization in such a heartbreaking way. For this account, Greengrass turns his attention to the Camp Fire that burned for almost three full weeks in 2018 and claimed the lives of 85 people in Northern California.
Matthew McConaughey plays Kevin McKay, a divorced and weary school bus driver who is just trying to get to the end of his shift. His angry teenage son keeps pulling away from him, and he can’t get more work to make ends meet since other drivers have seniority over him. On top of that, Kevin has to put his ailing dog down. McConaughey acts opposite his real-life family (his mother Kay McCabe McConaughey and son Levi McConaughey, respectively), and Greengrass also casts individuals who went through this experience like dispatcher Beth Bowersox and fire chief John Messina to lend more authenticity.
When the dispatcher, Ruby (a very welcome Ashlie Atkinson), sends a request out to find a driver to rescue a group of over twenty children from Ponderosa Elementary who are stranded in the evacuation zone, Kevin decides to answer the call. By the time that the kids are loaded into the bus (from the guidance of America Ferrera’s Mary), the fire is even more out of control as officials try to move from a mission of evacuation to one of rescue.
A lot of things could go wrong with this film, but Greengrass keeps a firm grasp on everything with the editing, by William Goldenberg, slicing from Kevin and Mary to the fire marshalls to the news and back again with mounting tension. We keep coming back to the wind,
The school bus itself is a lumbering, large object. To put it quite plainly, it doesn’t maneuver well so adding speed and immediacy only adds to the dire situation. Remember riding one of those? You feel every pothole (call your representatives, people!) As the smoke and ash accumulates, it clouds the sky, blocking out the sun and placing Kevin, Mary, and all the kids in a dark, sinister horror film. The only sparks of light come from the threatening fires or embers as they burst in the brush. We cut back and forth from the sunny, blazing hot world we are trying to return to and back to this dark, dangerous journey on a school bus. Greengrass places us right in the middle of the chaos and it makes your pulse race.
It’s quite remarkable how McConaughey bounces back from dashing leading man to everyday hero. Despite being behind the wheel of a bus, he is able to transmit a lot of pathos as he tries to drive everyone to safety. Ferrera’s Mary is trying to keep a cool head for her students, and that leadership goes a long way opposite McConaughey. Teachers have to wear a lot of hats and the things she withholds from us (for the sake of the kids) is rather compelling. Atkinson, in one of the toughest roles, has to act opposite a cell phone or computer screen, but she makes us feel the stress. When she has to evacuate her office, you can feel how much she doesn’t want to disconnect from the men and women she talks to every day.
Greengrass’ filmography is packed with projects that highlight the experiences of those whose names may not be familiar. He takes the stories from the news and infuses them with humanity, anxiety, and the powerful will of the people.
The Lost Bus debuts in select theaters on September 19 and premieres globally on Apple TV+ on October 3.
