‘The Burial’ Movie Review (TIFF 2023)

Image credit: Courtesy of TIFF

Written by: Gracie Lowes

If you’re a drama, comedy and a “based on a true story” lover then Prime Video has the perfect new release for you to add to your watch list.

Making its North American premiere at TIFF 2023, Maggie Betts ‘The Burial’ stars Jamie Foxx, Tommy Lee Jones, Jurnee Smollett, Alan Ruck, Mamoudou Athie, Pamela Reed, Bill Camp, Amanda Warren and more.

‘The Burial’ follows Jeremiah J. O’Keefe (Tommy Lee Jones) a well-known name in the Mississippi area, for having taken on his family business ‘the O’Keefe Funeral Homes’, which later changed to ‘Bradford-O’Keefe Funeral Homes’ in 1957 after he bought out his major competitor.

Despite being a good business and family man, the O’Keefe funeral homes found themselves in deep financial trouble. In hopes of saving his family’s legacy and passing it on to the next generation, Jeremiah decides to sell three of his funeral home locations to Ray Loewen’s (Bill Camp) the ‘Loewen Group’ in exchange for the money he needs to keep the funeral homes open.

After shaking on terms and writing a legal agreement O’Keefe signed the contract that would save his business. Once a few months pass with no word from the Loewen Group, Hal Dockins (Mamoudou Athie) the newest addition to O’Keefe’s legal team, points out that Loewen’s plan was to hold out on his signing of the agreement until O’Keefe ultimately went bankrupt and had to give away the funeral home for almost nothing.

Realizing he’s been played and now has no way to save his business, Jeremiah decides that his only option is to sue the Loewen Group.

O’Keefe and Dockins realize that if they want to win what seems like an impossible case they’ll need to recruit one of the best lawyers they can find, which happens to be Willie Gary (Jamie Foxx)… a personal injury lawyer.

After a lot of begging and persuading the rich and flashy hot-shot lawyer, Gary decides to take on the O’Keefe case as a way to gain more popularity and even more money when he convinces Jeremiah to sue for $100 million.

With high stakes at risk, growing tension, and unlikely friendships being made, the case of O’Keefe vs. Loewen Group is one that will have viewers glued to the screen until the closing credits.

Going into this film I wasn’t sure what to expect after director Maggie Betts described it as a dramatic and inspiring true story with mixed in comedy. But I can say that after watching the film, her mixed description is spot on.

Foxx and Jones have an undeniable chemistry that creates an electric and captivating story for viewers to watch unfold. Although both actors are fantastic in their emotional scenes, they really shine when their witty comments and banter in the film left the audience in roaring laughter and long applause.

Along with the heartwrenching performances, credit also has to be given to the director and scriptwriters. The dialogue and especially Foxx’s monologues throughout the trial are so beautifully written and hold so much power in their meanings.

Whenever Foxx delivered these lines I could look around and see the audience leaning forward to listen and the atmosphere in the theatre was so quiet you could only hear the passion Foxx put into his words.

Overall, ‘The Burial’ gives viewers 2 hours and 6 minutes of a beautifully executed heartfelt film based on an amazing and touching true story.

From the undeniable chemistry between characters to the powerful script and well-paced plot line, ‘The Burial’ quickly became the first 5 out of 5-star rating after watching it at TIFF 2023.

If you enjoyed ‘Marshall’ and ‘Erin Brockovich’ I definitely recommend watching ‘The Burial’ when it hits Prime Video on October 13, 2023.