The Ending Of The Burial Explained

«The Burial» gets into gear when Jeremiah O’Keefe comes to visit Willie Gary with his case in 1995. He describes how he met with Ray Loewen (Bill Camp), the head of the Loewen Group, about buying three of the eight funeral homes he owns in Mississippi. In addition to the funeral homes, O’Keefe owns a burial insurance business, and the State Insurance Commission has determined that he isn’t maintaining the minimums he needs to operate. This is what necessitates the sale.

While O’Keefe and Loewen had a deal, it turns out O’Keefe is the only one who signed the paperwork. That’s why, after four months, the Loewen Group still hasn’t acted, and Hal Dockins thinks he knows why. He believes Loewen wants the Insurance Commission to take O’Keefe’s license so he can’t make money, leading him to file for bankruptcy. Then Loewen will come and buy all eight of O’Keefe’s funeral homes at yard sale prices.

O’Keefe is incensed by this and decides to sue. But his case ends up in a predominantly Black county in the state, making a Black lawyer an asset. Enter Willie Gary. Gary doesn’t do everything right throughout the trial, especially because Loewen has hired a lawyer, Mame Downes (Jurnee Smollett), with an impeccable pedigree to go against him. She not only embarrasses O’Keefe on the stand, but she also accuses Mike Allred (Alan Ruck), O’Keefe’s regular lawyer, of having a grandfather who was a member of the Ku Klux Klan.