The movie The Burial is loosely based on a real court case and a long-form magazine article about it.

What “The Burial” Is Based On

  • The film is inspired by the true story of Mississippi funeral home owner Jeremiah Joseph “Jerry” O’Keefe and star lawyer Willie E. Gary.
  • It centers on their mid‑1990s lawsuit against a large Canadian funeral company, the Loewen Group, and its head Raymond Loewen.
  • The specific source material is a 1999 New Yorker article titled “The Burial” by journalist Jonathan Harr, which chronicled the real case in detail.

How True Is The Movie?

  • The movie keeps the core facts : O’Keefe’s financial trouble, the handshake deal with Loewen’s company, the broken agreement, and the massive civil suit that followed.
  • It is described as “loosely based” or “inspired by true events,” meaning several characters and courtroom moments are dramatized or invented for storytelling.
  • For example, the film adds fictional elements like the character Mame Downes, a Black female attorney opposing Gary, who did not exist in the real case.

In One Line

The Burial is based on the real 1995 lawsuit Jeremiah O’Keefe brought against the Loewen funeral company, as told in Jonathan Harr’s 1999 New Yorker article, but dramatized with creative changes for the film.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.