Movie Review: Heaven Is for Real

Heaven Is for Real, out on April 16, tells the fact-based tale of a cute young boy who returned from near death with visions of the hereafter. Predictably afterlifey, it already has a built-in audience: A book of the same name, written by pastor Todd Burpo (played by Greg Kinnear in the film) and conservative writer Lynn Vincent, spent months on bestseller lists in 2010 and 2011. It’s the top nonfiction paperback right now.

The movie is the latest in this year’s unprecedented lineup of mainstream religious films. The first of these, Son of God, a re-edit of last year’s hit History Channel miniseries The Bible, had a strong opening weekend of $25 million in late February. A reboot of the Left Behind Christian sci-fi novels, starring Nicolas Cage, opens in October. Two more Biblical epics, Ridley Scott’s Exodus, with Christian Bale as Moses, and Mary, Mother of Christ, with Ben Kingsley as King Herod, will come by Christmas.