In his first live-action starring role since 2019, Matthew McConaughey has returned with smoldering intensity in his new action movie, The Lost Bus. Based on an incredible true story, McConaughey plays Kevin McKay, an unstable yet dutiful bus driver who risks his life to save over 20 schoolchildren from being burned alive in a massive blaze. The Apple TV+ original movie premiered on the platform on October 3, 2025.
If McConaughey wasn’t a big enough draw, consider the master of white-knuckle intensity, director Paul Greengrass. The English filmmaker has a knack for recreating some of the most unnerving real-life disasters, be it United 93 or 22 July. With McConaughey driving The Lost Bus under Greengrass’s skillful direction, Apple TV+ subscribers are in for a breathlessly bumpy and exhilarating ride ahead.
‘The Lost Bus’s Incredible True Story
Based on Lizzie Johnson’s harrowing 2021 non-fiction book Paradise: One Town’s Struggle to Survive an American Wildfire, The Lost Bus takes viewers to California in 2018. On November 8, 2018, the largest California wildfire broke out in Butte County, becoming the deadliest blaze in the state’s history. Dubbed the Camp Fire, The Lost Bus follows Kevin McKay (McConaughey), the heroic bus driver who was caught in the raging inferno while transporting 22 elementary school students and their teacher, Mary Ludwig (America Ferrera).
The Lost Bus marks McConaughey’s first mainstream live-action role since Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen in 2019 and his first leading role since Harmony Korine’s underrated The Beach Bum. Although he did appear in the 2025 crime-thriller The Rivals of Amziah King, McConaughey has spent the last five years primarily voicing characters in movies and TV shows such as Sing 2, Deadpool & Wolverine, Agent Elvis, and the podcast Hank the Cowdog. The Lost Bus is also his first legitimate action movie role since The Dark Tower in 2017.
The Lost Bus co-stars Yul Vazquez as Cal Fire Battalion Chief Ray Martinez, Ashlie Atkinson as bus depot dispatcher Ruby Bishop, Levi McConaughey (Matthew’s real-life son) as Kevin’s son Sean McKay, Kay McCabe McConaughey (Matthew’s real-life mother) as Kevin’s infirm mother Sherry McKay, Gary Kraus as Sheriff Thomas, and Kate Wharton as Battalion Chief Jen Kissoon. McConaughey was drawn to the project because it was rooted in reality, and with his real-life mother and son involved, The Lost Bus is more personal than most movies.
Paul Greengrass Is the Master of Disaster
Beyond the sway of The Lost Bus‘s wild true story and McConaughey at the wheel, Paul Greengrass’s deft direction requires extra attention. Since breaking out with the visceral United 93 in 2006, Greengrass has carved a niche as the master of disaster, recreating real-life tragedies, grand-scale accidents, and unthinkable terror attacks with grueling intensity and the utmost respect for its sensitive subjects.
Even before United 93, Greengrass’s 2002 feature Bloody Sunday recounts the 1972 Irish civil rights march that ended in a gory massacre. That movie established Greengrass’s Cinéma Vérité directorial style, aiming to recreate real-life events with impeccable accuracy and realism. That style of filmmaking has continued throughout his filmography, attempting to shed light and bring some understanding into the unfathomable events seen in Green Zone, Captain Phillips, and 22 July.
The veracity of Greengrass’s directorial aplomb stems from his early days as a journalist. In the 1980s, Greengrass worked as a director for ITV’s World in Action, a current affairs news program. Greengrass also co-wrote the 1987 exposé, Spycatcher, which revealed sensitive MI5 secrets that led to the British government’s attempt to ban it from publication.
The point is, Paul Greengrass has dedicated his filmmaking career to presenting the truth and putting viewers into the shoes of ordinary, everyday heroes who’ve faced some of the world’s most recent disasters. How Greengrass conjures sympathy and empathy for his characters by plunging viewers into relentless action spectacles is truly special. The Lost Bus is just the latest in a proven litany of white-knuckle thrillers that always deliver adrenaline rushes while remaining respectful to the real-life characters featured in each story. There’s no cheap exploitation in a Greengrass film.
‘The Lost Bus’s Critical Reception Thus Far
For the most part, critics are riding high with The Lost Bus‘ harrowing recreation of the 2018 Camp Fire. The film boasts a Certified Fresh 87% Rotten Tomatoes rating and a 92% audience score. The site’s consensus claims:
“Recreating a real-life disaster with terrifying authenticity, The Lost Bus ratchets up the tension while maintaining a humanist core thanks to Matthew McConaughey and America Ferrera’s effective performances.”
Unfortunately, the movie relies too heavily on visual effects and explosive spectacle, often to the detriment of the absorbing human drama. But more often than not, most agree that The Lost Bus is the perfect action vehicle for McConaughey to showcase his range. As a flawed father desperate for redemption, McConaughey gives one of his most convincing performances as the unlikely hero Kevin McKay.
Despite its fiery spectacle, The Lost Bus is a rousing return to form for Greengrass, who knows how to ground a riveting true story in emotion while delivering hyperrealistic action. The movie boasts the throwback thrills of a classic ’70s disaster movie like The Towering Inferno, yet does so with unflinching authenticity devoid of high camp and distracting subplots.
All things considered, The Lost Bus is a must-watch for Apple TV+ subscribers. Between McConaughey’s first big role in five years, the incredible true story the movie is based on, the tension and suspense of Greengrass’s direction, and the critical adoration it has received, The Lost Bus is a worthy ride this October. The Lost Bus is streaming on Apple TV+.
- Release Date
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October 3, 2025
- Runtime
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130 minutes
- Director
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Paul Greengrass