In a slow September week, Matthew McConaughey returns to the big screen after 6 years in The Lost Bus alongside America Ferrera. Without ample marketing, the film has already been released theatrically in the US. Veteran Jason Bourne director, Paul Greengrass, helms the real-life underdog story.
Despite little hype around the bleak tale, The Lost Bus has impressed the audience with its cutting and gruesome depiction of a harrowing nightmare that ravaged Los Angeles in 2018. The film currently holds a stellar rating of 87% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 45 critics’ reviews.
Is Matthew McConaughey’s The Lost Bus Based on a True Story?
Matthew McConaughey’s first major theatrical release in 6 years is no small matter, but a real-life account of the deadly California wildfire that devastated the city of Los Angeles in 2018. Loosely adapted from Lizzie Johnson’s 2021 book Paradise: One Town’s Struggle to Survive an American Wildfire, the film follows an unassuming everyman hero, Kevin McKay, who drove a bus full of schoolchildren and a teacher through a living inferno to safety.
The harrowing film is so visually evocative that it doesn’t need to leave anything to the imagination. The blazing fire feels suffocating even through the screen as the horrors of reality settle in with every passing minute. The bus falls out of radio contact, gets trapped in an increasingly dangerous gridlock, and comes across gun-toting looters and rioters, all while the children are in danger of being asphyxiated by the darkening smoke.
At times, the events depicted in the film are so severe that they feel like the product of Hollywood make-believe. The tragedy of the situation fully materializes when the audience realizes that people truly lived through this waking nightmare as recently as 2018.
The fire, which broke out due to a faulty transmission line, burned from November 8 to November 25, 2018, displacing 50,000 people, causing 85 fatalities, destroying more than 18,000 buildings, and causing almost $16.5 billion in damages (via BBC).
When Will The Lost Bus Release on Streaming?
Matthew McConaughey and America Ferrera’s real-life horror story was released in theaters on 19 September 2025. Despite starring two major stars in the lead, The Lost Bus does little in terms of promotion, relying instead on the TIFF buzz, a trailer, and the reality of the story to draw viewers in over the film’s first opening weekend.
As can be expected from a film with little to no advertising, The Lost Bus will swiftly move on to streaming after spending exactly two weeks in the theaters. On October 3rd, the McConaughey movie will be made available on Apple TV+, considering it’s an Apple Studios production.
Below is a table listing all the necessary details on The Lost Bus:
Which Matthew McConaughey role has influenced/impacted you the most in his 3-decade-long career? Let us know in the comments below.
The Lost Bus is now playing in theaters and will be streaming on Apple TV+ starting October 3, 2025.
