Movie Review: After Death

But why is this so? Because we are all born in union with Adam, whose sin nature we have inherited, and we accumulate a debt of sin through our individual actions. A holy and righteous God can only judge us for our sin unless there is one to step in and bear our sins for us—and Jesus has accomplished that on the cross.

The film features the stories of 14 different individuals who tell of their account with a near-death experience (NDE) and several professionals who have examined NDEs to establish their validity from an objective standpoint.

The main positive takeaway from the film is that humans are not simply meat machines, but that there is a soul that lives on after death. The notion of a future judgment is also suggested, but there is no mention of what that judgment will be based on. While several of the individuals mention the Bible or Jesus or the Christ, this is clearly not a Christian film, and the producers and directors have made that clear in social media posts. The film comes from Angel Studios, originally founded by the Harmon brothers who are all LDS, so as a former Mormon, my (Roger’s) antenna is always up. And after seeing the film, the LDS are going to be quite happy to use this film as a recruiting tool.

To Heaven and Back Again

We will not take the time here to detail the various issues with individuals who claim to have gone to heaven and returned, but the problems addressed in this article are all present in this film. The primary concern is that all the biblical accounts of individuals encountering the glory of God in the heavenly realms result in a state of awe and personal shame (Isaiah 6:1–4; Ezekiel 1, 10; Revelation 4–6) rather than the family reunion scenes and chitchat sessions with Jesus that are recounted in the film. We will leave it to the viewer to evaluate the claims of the individuals, but each must be weighed carefully against what Scripture plainly teaches.

The Science of Death

There is little doubt that NDEs are legitimate experiences, and individuals share many common experiences and can report details during the period they were unconscious that they should not be able to know. How the brain/soul connection accomplishes this is something we simply don’t understand. A cardiologist was intrigued with these events and sought to document them as objectively as possible. This part of the film is intended to appeal to those who are scientifically minded and skeptical. It does its job well, but even with the brain scan data and other factors included, those who deny the immaterial part of the human existence are going to come up with a rescuing device because their worldview demands it. If their heart is hard, they are going to reject the evidence regardless of how high it piles up.

We have a fuller revelation in the Bible today to point to and proclaim the glories of Christ and the future with him.

Let’s remember the story Jesus told of the rich man and Lazarus. When the rich man asked Abraham to send Lazarus back from the dead to warn his brothers so they didn’t face the torment he was in, Abraham didn’t indulge him. Rather he told him they had “Moses and the Prophets,” the Scriptures, to look to (Luke 16:19–31). Likewise, we have a fuller revelation in the Bible today to point to and proclaim the glories of Christ and the future with him.

All We Need Is Love

As each person talks about their encounter in what they believe was heaven, the two key identifiers they use are light and love—their overwhelming presence and walking into an “ocean of love” was the common theme.

The main characters recount how the figure they talked to tells them that their main objective when returning to earth is to love others. To pass on love and watch the ripple of love is all they had to do. There is no definition and right understanding of love according to God’s revelation and nature. No mention of proclaiming repentance or pursuing holiness, just love. The Beatles would be proud of this Jesus.

Additionally, the film uses a montage of speakers, including one of the main authors, to insinuate that this light and love and life can be found in any culture and religion around the world. So it doesn’t matter if you look to Christ alone for the forgiveness of sins, just make sure you spread love and life and light, whatever that means, and you will get to heaven.

To Whom Will You Turn?

During several of the testimonials, a hellish experience is described where figures we would understand as demons were involved. As one of these individuals had turned away from God, he knew from Sunday school lessons that there was a God who offered hope and salvation, and he called out to him as the demons tore at him—and God rescued him.

We must agree with Scripture that it is appointed for man to die once and then face judgment (Hebrews 9:27), but these few cases do not seem to necessarily defy that passage. But they do present a dangerous possibility. If this is the case, why shouldn’t an unbeliever just live their life the way they want to and then cry out to God as they are being drawn away to hell and receive last-minute salvation? The film desires to challenge skeptics with the reality of the spiritual. Unfortunately, the tales of these NDEs too easily give the nonbeliever a baseless excuse to dismiss the relevance or urgency of a spiritual reality. Quite the opposite of what the producers hoped for, this film could allow many a skeptic to feel safe and comfortable in their dismissal of life beyond this world.

The After Party

As is popular with these promotional films today, there was a brief segment after the film featuring several people from the film. We were hopeful that a clear explanation of the hope of the gospel would be found here, but that hope was dashed when the only challenge offered was to think about the possibility of the spiritual and the only resource offered was a suicide hotline.

There is no clarity, and it has the potential to lead so many astray and make them believe that if they just love people and look for the light in the world they will die and go to a better place.

If you watch this film as a Bible-believing Christian, you will see your own views in what is said. If you are a Mormon, the same will be true. A Roman Catholic, the same. A Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh, Muslim, or any theistic religion could embrace this film. Even an atheist could happily embrace the film because, if they are wrong, they will likely have a chance to change their minds after they die. And that is the problem. There is no clarity, and it has the potential to lead so many astray and make them believe that if they just love people and look for the light in the world they will die and go to a better place. But isn’t that exactly the kind of half-truth that can deceive so many into a false sense of security for them and their loved ones?

There is no doubt that some will see this film and question what they believe. But to whom will they turn? The film gives them no sure guidance. None. Can the gospel be found in the books of some of the authors mentioned in the film? Surely. So if you intend to use this film as an evangelistic tool, you will have a lot of blanks to fill in and errors to correct. Remember that Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light, so we must be diligent to compare everything we see to the Word of God and take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.