McConaughey & family stars in wildfire drama movie about the deadly 2018 LA Camp Fire
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In a deeply personal and dramatic retelling of one of California’s deadliest wildfires, Matthew McConaughey stars alongside his 93-year-old mother Kay and 17-year-old son Levi in The Lost Bus, a film that premiered this week at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Directed by Paul Greengrass (United 93, Captain Phillips), the film recounts the harrowing true story of Kevin McKay, a school bus driver who helped evacuate 22 children and their teacher from the 2018 Camp Fire, which devastated the town of Paradise, killing 85 people and displacing over 50,000.
McConaughey plays McKay, while his real-life son Levi portrays Kevin’s teenage son, and his mother Kay plays Kevin’s ailing mother. “Just to be in a scene with those two, I never thought that was something that would happen,” McConaughey told the BBC.
Greengrass, known for blending realism with drama, cast Levi after a blind audition and brought Kay on board despite her recent injury. The director also used real firefighters and avoided virtual sets, opting instead to film on a repurposed campus in New Mexico with controlled gas burns to simulate wildfire conditions.
The film’s producer, Jamie Lee Curtis, was inspired by Lizzie Johnson’s book Paradise: One Town’s Struggle to Survive an American Wildfire. Curtis said the story of Kevin and teacher Mary Ludwig—played by America Ferrera—was “the most important thing” she’s worked on.
Greengrass described the wildfire as “almost a character itself,” symbolizing the global climate crisis. “All the intersecting storylines in that film are about characters grappling with the idea of having left it too late,” he said.
The Lost Bus is now in theaters and will stream on Apple TV+ starting October 3.