Matthew McConaughey stars in the heart-pounding The Last Bus: a film review

Just as the summer season of action movies has run its’ course, an adrenaline injection emerges from a flaming labyrinth. Not a blockbuster in the sense of a whimsical themed CGI spectacular, this intense tale surrounds your senses and consumes your emotions in the best way. Academy Award-winner Matthew McConaughey, (Dallas Buyers Club) stars as Kevin McKay, the most handsome and physically fit school bus driver ever. With devoted schoolteacher Mary Ludwig (Golden Globe Award-winner America Ferrera, Ugly Betty), the two race against all odds to rescue twenty-two children from an uncontrollable wildfire.

Based on journalist Lizzie Johnson’s Paradise: One Town's Struggle to Survive an American Wildfire, her acclaimed account of the vicious 2018 Camp Fire that ravaged the California region. Oscar-nominated Paul Greengrass (United 93) not only handles director duty, but also co-wrote the screen play alongside Brad Inglesby and Johnson, the book’s author. The exceptional sound design brings the flames, winds, and forest alive, making the nature a character itself. This is one best experienced on the big screen, with a theatre’s full capabilities. 

Camerawork and sound design captivate

Between his unrelenting boss Ruby (Ashlie Atkinson), a sick mother, and a patchy harmony with his son underscored by a regretful relationship with his own deceased father, Kevin can’t win for losing. Matthew McConaughey naturally induces the feeling that you too are up the hopeless creek, no paddles in sight. His actual offspring Levi, who auditioned withholding his last name, stars as Shaun, his character’s son in the movie, helping actualize their rapport.

What appears a common seasonal wildfire spirals towards devastation rapidly. Fire Chief Martinez (Yul Vazquez, Severance) and local first responders struggle to contain the culminating catastrophe, but wrestle with quicksand as danger spreads. Backed up traffic, failing radio connections, and swelling panic compound the calamity. A group of kids at a school in the evacuation zone are stranded in the inferno’s path. The only empty bus close, Kevin rises to the occasion and takes the call to transport them to a safety. But the full force of the fire rears its’ head, throwing plans into a maddening web of strife.

Sincere performances and tangible characters

Blumhouse Productions veers away from its’ generally steady horror-thriller bread and butter which has yielded imbalanced releases as of late. Teaming with Apple Studios and Comet Films, the alliance proves fruitful for the feature. Although shot in New Mexico, Greengrass uses the vast landscape to his visual advantage.

Building tension? Suspense is constructed like the Pyramids of Giza, moments parallel a transference of trauma. Scenes beat so visceral they may hit too close to home for viewers who have been affected by wildfires. Filmmakers execute the balance of backstories and subplots without rushing their inclusion amidst the fast pace you’re dropped into, an aim rarely accomplished. This adventurous ride may be void of plot department surprises paired with predictable character dynamics, but then again, it is based on true events, and will strike all the right chords.