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Paul Greengrass turns the Camp Fire into a seat-grinding survival thriller, told almost entirely from inside a rumbling school bus. Matthew McConaughey’s Kevin McKay, a small-town driver, and America Ferrera’s Mary Ludwig, a clear-eyed teacher, try the impossible: steer 22 kids through a fast-moving inferno. The premise is simple; the execution is ferociously focused. Greengrass plants us in the bus’s metal shell—windows glowing orange, roads vanishing into embered haze—so every detour feels like a coin toss between hope and heat. The practical staging sells the danger, while a spare, pulse-steadying score underlines the chaos without guiding our emotions. McConaughey plays it grounded—more flannel than swagger—while Ferrera’s minute calibrations of reassurance and fear are quietly riveting. Around them, crisp supporting turns sketch a community improvising under pressure. What elevates the film is its fixation on process. Radios fail, maps lie, and choices have to be made anyway; the fire is treated like a learning adversary, always circling. A few you-are-there jolts blur character beats you wish lingered, and the script occasionally states what the filmmaking already shows. But the set pieces are clean, the momentum relentless, and the emotional payoffs earned. Verdict: A propulsive, nerve-jangling rescue story anchored by two lived-in performances. Greengrass in peak “ordinary people, extraordinary circumstances” mode.

Great character development and story lines that make you love the characters, especially that of Ronald Davey, played by Edi Gathegi.