SUCOPRESS/Raquel Laguna. Director Stephen Gray and author John Burke talk in this interview about their movie AFTER DEATH, a gripping feature film that explores what happens after we die, based on real near-death experiences, conveyed by scientists, authors, and survivors. From the New York Times bestselling authors who brought you titles like 90 Minutes in Heaven, Imagine Heaven, and To Heaven and Back, emerges a cinematic peek beyond the veil that examines the spiritual and scientific dimensions of mortality, inviting us to wonder: Is there life after death? AFTER DEATH had a historic opening weekend becoming the highest-grossing faith documentary, closing out the weekend with $5 million in box office ticket sales. The film finished in fourth place and is among the top 15 documentary openings of all time. The ANGEL STUDIOS film explores the human spirit, our collective search for meaning, and the eternal quest to uncover the truth about what lies beyond this mortal realm.
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00:00 The idea for After Death came about, it was born out of loss.
00:03 So in 2012, my brother-in-law was tragically killed by a drunk driver.
00:07 And that kind of caused me to ask questions about the reality of life after death.
00:12 I wasn't sure, you know, what I believed at that time in terms of the reality of heaven.
00:16 But that's when I came across these stories of people who had clinically died and had
00:20 these experiences and came back.
00:22 And you know, it's many years later, but that's where, that's how After Death came about.
00:26 What can the readers expect from your book, Imagine the God of Heaven?
00:33 Yeah, in Imagine the God of Heaven, I'm trying to show how when people clinically die and
00:40 come back, all over the world, and I have stories from people on every continent, they
00:47 are experiencing this God of light and love.
00:49 They're experiencing the same God.
00:51 He's personal, knows them intimately, and they come back with a hope and seeking.
00:59 And even though that God might not be what they culturally expected, I'm trying to show
01:04 how it actually aligns with what God has been revealing about his heart for all people,
01:09 that he's a God of all nations and always has been.
01:12 Stephen, how was the research process for the film?
01:16 So we kind of approached this film both kind of from a scientific perspective, as well
01:21 as through story.
01:22 So we have 14 different people who clinically died and had these experiences in between
01:26 seconds to an hour and 45 minutes.
01:29 But science was a really important kind of aspect to the film.
01:32 And as we started to unpack all these stories, there's a lot of evidence around life after
01:39 death in terms of their out-of-body experience.
01:42 There's elements that could be later corroborated.
01:44 And that's something we really wanted to explore because from a skeptical perspective and skeptical
01:49 point of view, this kind of helps tell that story.
01:54 John, what specific story from your book impressed you the most?
01:59 Oh boy.
02:01 There's 70 in there.
02:03 Yeah.
02:04 Well, honestly, I think one of the ones, this wonderful man named Santosh, who he grew up
02:14 in India, when he had his near-death experience, he hears them say, "Code blue, code blue."
02:22 And then he finds himself above his body, seeing the resuscitation happening.
02:28 Like Stephen said, that's what convinced me.
02:31 There's verification because of what they're observing.
02:35 And then this brilliant God of light and love comes to him.
02:40 And he said, "I instantly fell in love with this God."
02:43 And then he describes taking him to this place where he is looking out over...
02:50 He describes exactly what John describes in the book of Revelation and Revelation 21.
02:57 Had no prior understanding of this city of God, and yet that's what he's describing.
03:04 And that's part of what's fascinating to me is people all over the globe describing similarities
03:11 that have overlap, and it makes you go, "Wow, okay, they're not corroborating, so why is
03:21 it so similar?"
03:22 Stephen, how has making AFTER DEATH changed your life personally?
03:30 And what would you like the audience could take away from this movie?
03:35 Yeah, this film AFTER DEATH has profoundly had an impact on my life.
03:41 It's renewed my faith and belief in God.
03:44 And even reading the Bible, I think for me it's caused me to read God's word in a way
03:50 that I never did before.
03:53 And yeah, it's just kind of secured my faith in this reality that there is life after death,
04:00 and heaven does exist, and that I'm going to see my brother-in-law again.
04:04 That's the hope that I have.
04:05 My hope is that this film kind of becomes a beacon of hope for other people.
04:12 And I think asking that question about life after death, I think that totally translates
04:17 to this life.
04:18 If there is life after death, what could that mean for our life here and the life that we're
04:23 living?
04:24 And even in terms of near-death experiences kind of point to this thing of many people
04:29 experience a life review.
04:32 And so they're seeing their whole life play out and the decisions that they're making
04:35 through their life and how that impacts others.
04:38 And so my hope is that people walk away and that they reflect on their life and the impact
04:42 that they're having on those around them as well.
04:45 Why this movie is so important now, at this moment in time?
04:52 Well, the question of what happens after we die is something that I think mankind has
04:57 been asking since forever.
05:00 And it affects everyone.
05:01 And death is something that affects everyone.
05:04 I think in the world that we live in today, there is a lot of unbelief in sort of this
05:11 does heaven exist?
05:12 Is there something after?
05:14 And I think living with a sense of purpose and hope that there is something after is
05:20 really important.
05:22 Movies have a unique ability to kind of help shape culture.
05:26 And my hope is that this film, that it begins to kind of go to a mass audience that we can
05:32 face death and ask those questions about what happens when we die.
05:38 I think this film comes out at a perfect time.