All film genres are cyclical, and although they may have fallen out of favour at one point with audiences, they often come around again.

The disaster genre was at its highest in the seventies with the likes of Airport, The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno all enthralling audiences in cinemas around the world.

It’s fair to say that they haven’t really had a solid revival since, but director English director Paul Greengrass’ latest is undeniably a throwback to those classics, but with a very modern feel to it.

Someone having a bad day is Kevin McKay (Matthew McConaughey); he’s had a blazing row with his teenage son and his faithful dog isn’t long for this world.

Unfortunately for him, it’s about to get a whole lot worse when a fire breaks out in the woods, and a group of kids at their local school are stuck there as their parents are too far away to pick them up. He just happens to be a school bus driver of bus 963, and is the closest to the school when the call goes out that they need assistance.

He takes the call and says he can go collect them, as well as their teacher Ms Ludwig (America Ferrera), but the trip for them all is anything but easy as the out of control fire gets ever closer.

This is the English director’s first film since 2020’s News of the World, and is an impressive return to form with this real life disaster flick with a mix of Hollywood schmaltz and documentary. It’s a mix that shouldn’t work, but Greengrass gives a masterful performance behind the camera in creating a thrilling ride.

It sees a welcome return from McConaughey, who hasn’t been on our screens since 2019’s The Gentlemen, busy as he has been writing his memoir and a book of poetry, as you do. He plays the average working Joe perfectly, whose own personal life is spiralling out of control when all fire hell breaks out in the town of Paradise, California in 2018.

Greengrass perfectly balances the Hollywood hero story with that of the gritty realism in which he captures Fire Chief Martinez (Yul Vazquez) and his team as they attempt to put the many fires out.

The result is a gripping pseudo old skool disaster flick, which will have you gripping onto your seat as if you were on the bus itself.

It may not signal the return of the disaster film to our screens, big and small, but it certainly acts as a reminder of when they’re done right, there’s nothing quite like it, a cinematic spectacle unlike any other.