Heaven Is for Real

Heaven Is for Real

Todd Burpo

Jay Wilkins

Colton Burpo

Cassie Burpo

Nancy Rawling

Michael

Rosa

Ray

Dr. O'Holleran

Dr. Charlotte Slater

Lee Watson

Katherine Watson

Old Man Watson

Painting Girl

Jesus

Turce (as Bryan Clark)

Slim Forrest

Newspaper Reporter

Pay Clerk

Playground Boy

Playground Boy

Marine C.O.

Mr. Baxter

Mr. Jackson

Mr. Parker

Woman from Choir Group

Bubba

Neighbor Lady

Zookeeper

Todd's Doctor

Heywood

Angel

Fire Chief

Loner

Angel (uncredited)

Wrestler (uncredited)

Handel (uncredited)

Butterfly Pavilion Patron (uncredited)

Butterfly Pavilion Patron (uncredited)

The real events about Burpo's story happened after Thursday, February 27, 2003. Colton Burpo, then three years and ten months old, was sick with a stomach flu. Although the next morning he was feeling better, Colton's condition soon took a drastic turn for the worse, and eventually he landed in the operating room fighting for his life due to appendicitis. After the operation, doctors and nurses believed Colton would die due to his bad conditions, but a few days later, Colton's health got better and he survived. About four months after the surgery, Colton began to tell his parents his visions and revelations about Jesus, angels and heaven. Even though Colton's heart never stopped beating during the operation, he said he left his physical body and arrived in heaven, where he met Jesus, a great grandfather who had died 30 years before and an unborn sister, who his parents hadn't told him about. Colton also said he saw Jesus ride on a rainbow-colored horse, and that he sat on Jesus' lap while the angels to sung him. His experiences were written about in a 2010 book that became the basis for this movie.

The Lithuanian painting girl who appears at the beginning and ending of the movie, played by Ursula Clark, is based on the real-life girl Akiane Kramarik, who affirmed to have experienced an NDE and to have met Jesus in heaven. In addition, the painting about Jesus shown in the movie is the real painting made by Kramarik.

Both Akiane Kramarik and Colton Burpo had a NDE, which allowed them having their revelations and visions. NDE is short for Near-Death Experience, a term established by first time by doctor Raymond Moody in his 1975's book "Life After Life". In it, Moody compiled real stories about patients who by a brief time was died and later lived again. The different stories had several common points:·To be out of the physical body.·Float around the rooftop of the room, seeing the own body in the bedroom.·X-rays senses, with capability to see and hear people (familiar, friends...) in the next rooms, or even long-distance senses, with capability to see and hear people far away from their own location.·Travel by a tunnel to high speed, with a great white light at the end.·Meet in the light parents and friends previously dead.·See a retrospective about the own lifeline, like movie frames.·Feel a great peace and tranquility while standing in the light.·Feel (not see) the presence of a powerful entity look-a-like a god.·A voice saying "It's not your time" or something similar, and return from the light.·Have a great feeling to fall from a high altitude, returning to the physical body and finally back to life.

There is a scene in the movie that depicts the Burpo's home shaking due to a train passing by. In reality, although there are train tracks that go into Imperial, they do not pass through - they literally stop in Imperial, although the track bed was laid out for miles past the west side of the town. In addition, the Burpo's home is located at the north end of Imperial where the tracks come into town on the south side.

When Todd is at the diner when his friends aren't taking his money, it shows him picking up his keys twice.

The events in the film took place prior to 2004 when the pastors last child was born, so the grave stone for the dead Marine should not have read "Birth 1990 - Death 2009".

Sonja Burpo: Honey, you know you should have turned the other cheek, though, right?

Todd Burpo: Is heaven a hope? Or as real as the earth and sky? I once asked my grandfather that question. And he said by the time he knew the answer, it would be too late for him to tell me. The day would come when I asked that question again, staring into the eyes of my son.

Colton Burpo: [in the recovery room] Dad, I want to hold that spider.