The Burial Society is a 2002 is a neo-noir

Neo-noir

Neo-noir is a style often seen in modern motion pictures and other forms that prominently utilize elements of film noir, but with updated themes, content, style, visual elements or media that were absent in films noir of the 1940s and 1950s.-History:The term Film Noir was coined by...

 thriller film

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

 written and directed by Nicholas Racz. The film stars Rob LaBelle

Rob LaBelle

Rob LaBelle is an American film and television actor.-Early life and education:He was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota.-Career:LaBelle has made appearances, many as a character actor, in dozens of film and television roles, most in the science-fiction genre, and is probably best known for his role as...

, Jan Rubes

Jan Rubes

Jan Ladislav Rubeš CM was a Czech-Canadian bass opera singer and actor.-Life and career:Rubeš was born in Volyně, Czechoslovakia, the son of Ružena and Jan Rubeš. Not too long after World War II, he graduated from the Prague Conservatoire and joined the Prague Opera House as a bass singer...

, Allan Rich, Bill Meilen, Seymour Cassel

Seymour Cassel

Seymour Joseph Cassel is an American actor.He first came to prominence in the 1960s in the pioneering independent films of writer/directorJohn Cassavetes...

, and David Paymer

David Paymer

David Paymer is an American actor and television director, seen in such films as Quiz Show, Searching for Bobby Fischer, City Slickers, Crazy People, State and Main, Payback, Get Shorty, Carpool, The American President, Ocean's Thirteen, and Drag Me to Hell...

. The film follows a lonely, depressed Jewish man who becomes involved in the mafia.

Plot

The Burial Society tells the story of Sheldon Kasner, whose existence has recently turned to one of quiet anxiety. His workload is mounting as his reimbursement for it continues to diminish, and Sheldon justifiably falls into a deep depression. Despite being a highly unlikely candidate for organized crime, he is drawn into a complicit money-laundering scam that doesn't run as planned. With a two-million-dollar debt on his hands, Sheldon devises a complicated plan: staging his own death with the help of the Chevrah Kadisha, or the "Burial Society," a mysterious group of devout Jewish men who have dedicated themselves to preparing dead bodies for their final resting place. Unbeknownst to Sheldon, the Burial Society sees the incompetent businessman as the only hope for the continued existence of their tradition. As they initiate him into their peculiar, ritualistic world, Sheldon believes his life is leisurely getting back on track; however, the men of the Burial Society may have something else in mind for him.

Critical reception

The Burial Society got mediocre reviews when it was released in the US in 2004. The film currently has an overall score of 53 out of 100 on Metacritic

Metacritic

Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...

. The film has a 53% “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes

Rotten Tomatoes

Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...

 with a total of eight positive reviews and seven negative reviews.

Awards

The film won the award for Best Production Design in a Feature Length Drama for James Hazell at the 2003 Leo Awards

Leo Awards

The Leo Awards are the awards program for the British Columbia film and television industry, celebrating excellence in artistic achievement. Held each May in Vancouver, Canada, the Leo Awards honour nominees and winners in 13 program categories and up to 19 craft categories...

. It was also nominated in the categories of Best Cinematography, Best Director, Best Male Lead Performance, Best Musical Score, Best Program, and Best Screenplay. In addition to this the film won Best Film at the 2004 Louisville Jewish Film Festival; Best Cinematography and Best Production Design at the Milan International Film Festival; and Best Canadian Screenplay at the Vancouver International Film Festival

Vancouver International Film Festival

The Vancouver International Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada for two weeks in late September and early October...

. The film also won awards from the New Orleans Film Festival and Nanaimo inFEST Film Festival.

Cast and crew

Actor	Role
Rob LaBelle Rob LaBelle Rob LaBelle is an American film and television actor.-Early life and education:He was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota.-Career:LaBelle has made appearances, many as a character actor, in dozens of film and television roles, most in the science-fiction genre, and is probably best known for his role as...	Sheldon Kasner
Jan Rubes Jan Rubes Jan Ladislav Rubeš CM was a Czech-Canadian bass opera singer and actor.-Life and career:Rubeš was born in Volyně, Czechoslovakia, the son of Ružena and Jan Rubeš. Not too long after World War II, he graduated from the Prague Conservatoire and joined the Prague Opera House as a bass singer...	Marvin Telekunsky
Allan Rich	Hy Leibowicz
Bill Meilen	Harry Epstein
David Paymer David Paymer David Paymer is an American actor and television director, seen in such films as Quiz Show, Searching for Bobby Fischer, City Slickers, Crazy People, State and Main, Payback, Get Shorty, Carpool, The American President, Ocean's Thirteen, and Drag Me to Hell...	Morry Zimmer
Seymour Cassel Seymour Cassel Seymour Joseph Cassel is an American actor.He first came to prominence in the 1960s in the pioneering independent films of writer/directorJohn Cassavetes...	Sam Goldberg
Jeff Seymour	Jake Lightman
Bill Mondy Bill Mondy Bill Mondy, sometimes credited as Bill Monday, is an American film and television actor.-Career:He is best known for his appearances in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and The Dead Zone...	Stuart Lightman
Linden Banks	Rabbi Fernstein

External links

• Official Website