Compared to Apple's array of excellent TV shows, its original movies have been inconsistent at best ... which is precisely why I'm so glad to be recommending the absorbing, white-knuckle watch that is the 'The Lost Bus.'
I had the chance to stream Paul Greengrass's "The Lost Bus" in advance of its release on Apple TV Plus, and while it hasn't stolen the top spot on my movies of the year list away from the likes of "Sinners" or "One Battle After Another," it is nevertheless a worthy watchlist addition.
The new Apple TV Plus arrival zooms in on a deadly, real-life wildfire and renders it as a terrifying shot of adrenaline, with Matthew McConaughey, America Ferrera, and 22 terrified children in its epicenter: If you're looking for a new movie to stream this weekend, I'd strongly recommend making time to watch "The Lost Bus." It just might be one of my biggest surprises of 2025.
What is 'The Lost Bus' about?
Paul Greengrass' "The Lost Bus" is a gripping ride through one of America's most deadly wildfires, and is based on the book "Paradise: One Town's Struggle to Survive an American Wildfire" by Lizzie Johnson.
As the Camp Fire rages across California, the movie follows school bus driver Kevin McKay (Matthew McConaughey) and dedicated school teacher, Mary Ludwig(America Ferrera), as they battle through the blaze and the chaos of the ensuing panic and evacuation to ensure 22 children escape the terrifying inferno and make it back to their parents.
In addition to McConaughey and Ferrera, "The Lost Bus" also stars Yul Vazquez, Ashlie Atkinson, and Spencer Watson.
'The Lost Bus' is a captivating survival story you shouldn't miss
I know that sounds like a hyperbolic headline, but the moment that Kevin McKay's school bus finally escaped the blaze towards the end of the film, I distinctly remember breathing one hell of a sigh of relief in my living room. Fact is, once this scramble for survival gets going, it really doesn't let up, intercutting between snapshots of emergency services staff trying to help, the pandemonium amid the fire, and scenes of terror as Kevin fights his way through traffic and the massing flames, with Mary (Ferrera) and a school bus full of screaming children sitting behind him.
Handheld and close-in camerawork help sell the sense of claustrophobia and keep our focus trained on the fretting faces of Ferrera and McConaughey, both of whom put in confident turns at the helm, and help sell the danger all around. The fact that the shots of the fire itself are genuinely horrifying only helps to sell the stakes even further. It's an intense, ferocious rollercoaster watch.
The scripting might be a little in-your-face and keen to shout motivations and feelings out loud, but it's just so good at keeping viewers immersed that that really didn't bother me. "The Lost Bus" is a movie with a very real, palpable sense of panic and peril, and it had me utterly transfixed right through till the credits rolled.
You don't just need to trust me, either: "The Lost Bus" has been pretty well-received. At the time of writing, it currently holds an 84% rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes (from a total of 73 reviews), with a consensus that reads: "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."
As an example of what some critics had to say, take Brian Tallerico's 3/4 star review for RogerEbert.com, who said "The Lost Bus" is "a reminder of how good the director of 'United 93' and 'Captain Philips' can be at transporting us to unimaginable circumstances, and it plays like a truly phenomenal disaster movie that happens to be true, one of those flicks you almost always watch the last hour of if you catch it on cable."
Meanwhile, Variety's Peter Debruge wrote: "'The Lost Bus' resembles several other Greengrass films in that it’s also slim on character (only one of the kids has a name and personality), but succeeds in plunging audiences into the action — which, in this case, means trying to steer an unwieldy vehicle through hell itself."
It may not be a perfect movie, but taken as a singular story of human heroism from within this wider tragedy, I really do think "The Lost Bus" is worth paying attention to. In my eyes, it's among the best movies you can find on Apple TV Plus.
"The Lost Bus" is now streaming on Apple TV Plus
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