All About That Bus

No family is normal. Nothing is normal. However, this family has never seen what others might consider normal in the slightest 

Ben and his six kids live in various wooded areas they travel to on their bus, Steve. The children have a non-traditional education, focussed deeply on not only mental knowledge, but physical. The children are given weapons, such as a crossbow or knife, for a family celebration. They learn how to kill animals and how to defend themselves.

The mother is not physically shown in the movie, as she is in the hospital for mental illness. We learn that the mother ends up killing herself. This leads to the family going to her sister’s house and eventually a funeral that, according to the mother’s will, is not what she wanted at all. 

The mother’s family\ wants to take Ben’s kids away from him, claiming they aren’t getting a proper education and life. They believe Ben is abusing the children. However, he gets them back. They end up following the mother’s wish to be cremated. The children all, especially Bo (in a romantic way), begin to see what it is like to grow up.

I found this movie on a list of bus movies, and while it was a good movie, there was definitely not enough bus in it for me. Yes, they rode it to various camp locations, but it was treated more as a regular vehicle than the bus I believed would be featured. Steve, the bus, had an okay amount of screen time, but I would have wanted more.

BUS: 2/5

CHARACTERS: 5/5

PLOT: 4/5

OVERALL: 4/5