The seventh day of TIFF marked the premiere of The Burial, a highly anticipated film featuring Tommy Lee Jones and Jamie Foxx. The lineup wrapped around Princess Wales Theatre, one of the exclusive venues for the week of TIFF.
Princess Wales Theatre is the perfect venue for TIFF premieres. It features classic concession stands throughout and a stunning red carpet in each corridor. The TIFF volunteers quickly escorted the massive queue of film fanatics into the theatre and The Burial began to play.
The film itself, directed by Maggie Betts, is based on a true story, a real 1995 case in Hinds County, Mississippi. It features a flashy injury lawyer, Willie E. Gary (Jamie Foxx), representing a reserved Jeremiah O’Keefe (Tommy Lee Jones) as they battle against a mega-corporation.
The script itself was entertaining, to say the least. The audience was unusually audible throughout the movie, whether due to the hilariously bold lines from Willie E. Gary and his associates or the touching development of Jeremiah O’Keefe.
The film presents the classic underdog story, where a billionaire owner of the Loewengroup is looking to grow his already successful death and burial insurance enterprise. O’Keefe, who owns a few homes himself, has accrued a massive amount of debt and is in dire need of selling his small business. The plot eventually leads to who the Lowengroup really is, exposing a complex web of race power, and injustice. With, of course, help from Willie E. Gary (Jamie Foxx) and adolescent lawyer Hal Dockins (Mamoudou Athie).
Throughout the film, the clash of Jones and Foxx is beautifully portrayed. The energy displayed by Foxx throughout the film kept all viewers deeply immersed for the entire two hours. The Burial’s true story is something the world needed to see, and Maggie Betts executed this wonderfully.
The Burial is a film not to miss this year. You can catch it during its limited release on October 6, 2023, and it will be available for streaming on Prime Video on October 13, 2023.
