“You’ve made me suffer. And I took that. You’ve made my family suffer. And I took that. You’re gonna take my boy? Don’t you take my son. Don’t you take my son!”

These are the desperate words of Todd Burpo (Greg Kinnear) in the new movie, Heaven Is For Real, when his four-year-old son, Colton (Connor Corum), lies in the hospital with his life on the line due to a ruptured appendix. This prayer proves to be effective when Colton not only survives, but comes back talking about an unexpected adventure into Heaven.

Colton’s trip to Heaven turned into a best-seller when his father, Todd Burpo recounted his son’s trip in his 2010 novel, Heaven Is For Real: A Little Boy’s Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back. With the help of director Randall Wallace, Colton’s same adventure story has come to the big screen for all to experience.

When we first meet Todd in the movie, he is a man who is very secure in his faith and religion. He spends his time pastoring Crossroads Wesleyan Church in Nebraska and installing garage doors. The financial stress builds up for the family since neither of the jobs do the trick of keeping the bills paid, and Todd’s loving wife, Sonja (Kelly Reilly), does not hesitate to remind him of this. However, this does not affect Todd’s goodhearted faith in God and His plan for Todd and his family.

Colton’s experience is something else altogether. Although one might think the answered prayers and Colton’s detailed story of his time with Jesus would make the family’s faith even greater and stronger, it has the opposite effect. Todd dives into a deep spiritual crisis when he cannot seem to wrap his head around what happened to his son.

Todd and Sonja love their son Colton very much and want to believe that the stories of his experience are true. However, even though they are his parents, it is extremely difficult for them to believe it. Still, the details that Colton tells of – meeting Todd’s grandfather and a sister of Colton’s who died in a miscarriage years prior – are too in depth for his parents to shake off as delusions during his near-death experience.

Greg Kinnear and Kelly Reilly do a great job as Colton’s parents. Kinnear is outstanding at being consumed by his son’s story and what it means to them spiritually. Reilly has a scene in which she demands that her husband focuses on their life in the present instead of the afterlife. This scene, along with ones similar to it, makes the characters feel real and relatable.