The Lost Bus

Friday, September 12: This film will be presented with open captions, but please note, ASL interpretation will not be available for the live onstage elements of the screening.

Based on real events that transpired during the deadliest fire in California history in November 2018, this heart-pounding docudrama from Oscar-nominated director Paul Greengrass (United 93) stars Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey as a driver in a desperate struggle to bring a busload of children to safety.

“Another dry and windy day in paradise” is rapidly transforming Northern California into something close to an inferno. Fires are spreading and huge plumes of smoke fill the horizon. School bus driver Kevin McCay (McConaughey) is ending his day when he gets a call requesting help for 23 children stranded at Ponderosa Elementary School. As the disaster escalates, Kevin knows that navigating his way toward the school could prove perilous, but a sense of responsibility, along with memories of personal loss, send him hurtling into harm’s way.

Adapted by Greengrass and Brad Ingelsby (TV’s Mare of Easttown) from Lizzie Johnson’s non-fiction book, Paradise: One Town’s Struggle to Survive an American Wildfire, The Lost Bus is high-tension, high-stakes storytelling, recreating the chaos and panic of the Camp Fire with fevered pacing, dynamic camera work, and vivid detail.

With support from Oscar-nominated co-star America Ferrera (Barbie), McConaughey gives a gut-wrenching performance as a man not seeking to be a hero, but who summons uncommon courage in the face of terrifying danger.