The Lost Bus Parent Guide

Kevin McKay (Matthew McConaughey) might live in Paradise but his life is far from idyllic. After his father’s death a few months ago, he moved back to California to care for his ailing mother. Now he’s driving a school bus and arguing with his grumpy 15-year-old and exasperated ex-wife. Even his beloved dog is sick and the cancer is so advanced that he must have him put down.

It might be hard to believe, but Kevin’s life is about to get worse.

On the morning on November 8^th, 2018, a spark from an electrical line hits tinder dry brush in the hills near the city. It starts a fire that moves at terrifying speed, accelerated by hot, dry winds.

Across the canyon, the people of Paradise see the smoke but don’t feel immediately threatened. Kevin completes his morning route and engages in an ongoing argument with his dispatcher about overlooked bus maintenance. Kevin’s trying to detour home to take medicine to his son, who has stomach flu, when a desperate call comes over the radio. The fire has jumped the canyon and now the eastern section of Paradise is under a mandatory evacuation order. A bus driver is needed to pick up twenty-plus kids whose parents can’t be contacted and take them to school in the safe zone. Kevin reluctantly volunteers and soon he’s loading 22 kids and a teacher (America Ferrera) onto his bus. What Kevin doesn’t know is that the town’s traffic is gridlocked, the whole population is now being evacuated, and the fire is moving faster than anyone imagined. Kevin will need grit, courage, and raw luck if his bus is going to take these kids to safety.

If you, like me, are terrified of fire, The Lost Bus is going to feel like a horror movie. I live an hour from the Rocky Mountains and for decades we enjoyed cool summers and a view of the snow-capped mountains. Now the mountains are bare in the summer and we have hot weather intermixed with “smoke days” when warm, dry forests burn. This movie isn’t just a snapshot of a moment in California’s past – it feels like a portent of a more perilous future for an increasing number of us.

Gloomy prognostications aside, The Lost Bus is a competent film. The fire scenes, in particular, are well shot and I have nothing but praise for the practical effects team. I have a few quibbles with the script, which is too long and would be leaner and more effective without Kevin’s domestic dramas. To be honest, I prefer Ron Howard’s documentary Rebuilding Paradise which tells the story of the fire and its aftermath without distraction.

If you’re wondering about watching this movie with your teen, you can be assured that negative content is relatively minor. The Restricted rating is due to 10 sexual expletives, which are not unexpected from people who are experiencing life-threatening danger. There is a brief moment where a person is threatened with a gun but the movie’s biggest issue is constant danger from the vividly shot scenes of raging fires. This isn’t a fun film for me and will likely prove triggering for people who have been traumatized by fires in the past. But if you like disaster flicks and want stories of courage and humanity, this might get your popcorn popping.