Paul Greengrass, Hollywood’s most efficient auteur of ripped-from-the-headlines dramatizations, returns with one of the most harrowing and stressful films of the year in The Lost Bus. Aside from his work on the Bourne franchise, Greengrass’s greatest successes have come from films about real people overcoming the odds to survive, like Captain Phillips and United 93. His latest covers a recent, well-publicized event, and though the life-or-death stakes are often enough to sustain the film for long stretches, it’s not enough to overcome its limitations.

The facts are these: in November 2018, a wildfire began in northern California when a faulty transmission line broke, spreading to Concow and Paradise. Through a cruel twist of circumstances which would seem too convenient were it not based on fact, Kevin (Matthew McConaughey) is the driver of the only bus available to venture to evacuate the last remnants of an elementary school on the border of the encroaching fire. America Ferrera also stars as Mary, the level-headed teacher whose major function is to calm the children.

Greengrass, who writes the screenplay with Brad Ingelsby, quickly establishes Kevin and his relatable predicament before he even realizes what’s coming. A single father of a rebellious teenager and caretaker for his dementia-riddled mother, Kevin can never seem to get ahead either at work or at home. McConaughey’s exasperation is a vital asset throughout The Lost Bus, even when his characterization could use some additional nuance.

Thankfully the film’s character work takes a back seat once the bus gets rolling and Kevin’s world descends even further into chaos. A 2-hour film centered almost exclusively on a school bus sounds like a tall order at first, but Greengrass manages to ratchet up the tension in unique and creative ways. Major communications are cut, the roads are blocked at every turn, the smoke begins to seep in through the air conditioning – oh yea, and there’s an ever-encroaching fire and a bus full of screaming children. In order to alleviate some of the tension, the film cuts to the firefighting efforts led by chief Ray Martinez (Yul Vazquez), and how utterly hopeless the situation quickly becomes. The real magic trick of The Lost Bus is that Greengrass makes it entirely believable that a major movie studio could depict a bus full of kids being burned alive, despite the horrific implications.

Actually, the real magic trick is in the film’s Oscar-worthy CGI work, as Greengrass seamlessly blends practical and visual effects to show the dangerous fire both up close and from a distance. It’s a shame that Apple is only giving The Lost Bus a perfunctory theatrical rollout before it’s punted to AppleTV+, as the big screen spectacle is more than can be contained on an iPad. By the time the film is resolved, my heart rate was elevated, even if the experience likely won’t last after it returns to normal. I don’t know if Greengrass could credibly craft a more resonant story within this real-life event, but as is, the film is one of the year’s better streaming offerings.

The Lost Bus is in select theatres now and will be available to stream on AppleTV+ on October 3.

OSCAR POTENTIAL:

• Apple’s slate is bare bones this year, so The Lost Bus will only have to compete with F1 the Movie for campaign attention. Though the latter garnered bigger headlines and received a much bigger rollout, Greengrass’s film deserves serious consideration as a Visual Effects nominee. Sure, it effectively stands no chance at winning once Avatar: Fire and Ash comes out, but it should still receive due recognition.