The Burial (2023)
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2025-09 to 2026-08
The story
In 1995, financially troubled funeral home owner Jeremiah Joseph O'Keefe is forced to sell parts of his business to meet financial demands after losing money in a Ponzi scheme. He enters a contract with Raymond Loewen of the Loewen Group, but the company delays payment and violates an oral agreement regarding funeral insurance. Suspecting a predatory move to bankrupt O'Keefe and seize his business, O'Keefe hires flashy Florida personal injury lawyer Willie E. Gary. Gary confidently pursues a massive settlement, leading to a complex legal battle involving competing legal teams and allegations of exploitation against minority communities.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In 1995, funeral home owner Jeremiah Joseph O'Keefe is forced to sell parts of his business to the Loewen Group following a Ponzi scheme. The Loewen Group delays payment and violates an agreement not to sell funeral insurance, leading O'Keefe's lawyer to suspect a predatory takeover. O'Keefe hires flashy lawyer Willie E. Gary to pursue a large settlement. The case becomes complicated as Loewen hires a black legal team to counter Gary. During the trial, O'Keefe's character is attacked, and Gary is briefly replaced by a white lawyer, Mike Allred, who eventually withdraws due to personal compromises. A breakthrough occurs when a witness reveals that the Loewen group exploited the black National Baptist Church to sell overpriced packages. Despite no remorse from Raymond Loewen, the jury awards O'Keefe $100 million in compensatory damages and $400 million in punitive damages. Two years later, Ray Loewen is fired and the company goes bankrupt. The film ends with a cameo by Willie E. Gary.
- First release year
- 2023
- Runtime (minutes)
- 126
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Maggie Betts
- Writers
- Maggie Betts · writer; Doug Wright · writer
- Cast and characters
- Tommy Lee Jones · O'Keefe; Jamie Foxx · Gary; Jurnee Smollett; Alan Ruck; Mamoudou Athie; Pamela Reed; Bill Camp
- Genres
- drama; legal drama
- Themes
- legal justice; exploitation; racial dynamics
- Tone and mood
- dramatic; tense
- Premise and plot tags
- based on true story; legal battle; corporate greed
- Source material / true-story basis
- Jonathan Harr's article 'The Burial' published in 1999 by The New Yorker
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 74 · scale: 100 · review count: 23; Metacritic · score: 74 · scale: 100 · review count: 23
- Production trivia
- Denzel Washington and Will Smith were approached to play Willie E. Gary but passed.; Principal photography took place in New Orleans.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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