Did They Go to Heaven? Red Flags On “After Death” Film from Angel Studios

One of our readers recently sent me a link to the newly released film from Angel Studios titled “After Death.” This is a film featuring those who claim to have had near-death experiences and gone to heaven or hell and, of course, returned (or we would not have heard these stories). One trailer is at After Death.1 The film is one of the most recent promotions of what might be called the Heavenly Tourism Industry.

The investor page on the site for this film shows another trailer and pitches “After Death,” asking for investors. An investor summary overview reads:

1. After Death is a feature-length documentary releasing in theaters on October 27th that explores one of life’s biggest mysteries: What happens after we die? In this film we hear from people who have experienced these events first-hand.
2. This fascinating film has already been made. The investment opportunity is to raise funds for theatrical distribution costs (P&A).
3. After Death features interviews with New York Times bestselling authors, doctors, scientists, and near-death survivors including Don Piper (90 Minutes In Heaven), Dr. Mary Neal (To Heaven and Back), JoBurke (Imagine Heaven), Dr. Jeffrey Long (Evidence for the Afterlife), and Dr. Raymond Moody (Life After Life).
4. Interviewees in After Death have been featured on BBC, NBC, TEDx, The Oprah Winfrey Show, National Geographic, and more.
5. After Death explores the human spirit, our collective search for meaning, and the eternal quest to uncover the truth about what lies beyond this mortal realm.

I became interested in after-death and near-death experiences as a New Ager after reading Dr. Raymond Moody’s book. I devoured the book. All it did was confirm some of my New Age beliefs. Dr. Moody is not a Christian. As for the quest to “uncover what lies beyond this mortal realm,” I think the Bible covers that. Are Christians going to believe they will get some answers beyond the Bible from this film? I fear the answer is yes.

I have written on this topic when all the visits to heaven books were coming out with titles like Heaven is Real, To Heaven and Back, 90 Minutes in Heaven, and many others3 and MCOI has written on this in the past as well in “The Loss of God’s Holiness.”

This topic raises two important questions:
1. Are the accounts given of having visited heaven and/or seen dead relatives, Jesus/God credible?
2. Are these accounts beneficial as evidence for life after death and/or for the existence of Jesus/God/heaven?
To answer these questions, we will first consider the accounts from some of the people featured in this film.

First up is Howard Storm, one of the featured people in the film. Storm, a United Church of Christ [Herbert W. Armstrong] pastor, was promoted online, and I ran into links to his story rather often for a while. I watched three interviews of Storm in which he gave details of his account. I found so many unbiblical claims and claims contradictory to Scripture and to the gospel, the most shocking was discovering that Storm is apparently a follower of Swedenborg, often called the grandfather of New Thought.

Storm relayed that Jesus told him that earth was like a very low-level place, like pre-school, and there are other places with beings of higher intelligence who are more “spiritually evolved” and where they aren’t violent. That statement alone indicates that Storm is going against what the Bible tells us, that God created man in his image.

This “Jesus” told Storm that some people go to other worlds to enhance their spiritual evolvement. Storm may really think he met Jesus, but what he is saying is contrary to the Bible and to the historic Christian faith. So, we know he did not talk to the Jesus of Scripture and history but to “another Jesus” (2 Corinthians:11:4For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.
See All...). In another interview, Storm talks about the choice to spiritually evolve into God’s consciousness or devolve into primordial soup.

It is not difficult to see the issues with these claims. I realize Angel Studios was co-founded by Mormons, Neal Harmon, his brothers, brothers Jeffrey, Jordan, and Daniel, and cousin Benton Crane….Not all associated with Angel Studios are Mormons, and their content and projects are crowd-funded by various people. However, no matter who owns or invests in Angel Studio, simply letting the content of “After Death” speak for itself makes a more powerful argument against the film’s claims. 

This film appears to be sensational and tawdry, which is how the subject matter strikes me. Added to that, the information on some of the people featured makes it worse. It is like National Inquirer material, good for bird cages. An account from the teaching ministry of Jesus casts some light on this issue:

“And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ But he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead’” (Luke 16: 27-31).

[TBC: For references and footnotes, see: https://midwestoutreach.org/2023/11/09/did-they-go-to-heaven-red-flags-on-after-death-film-from-angel-studios/ ]