If there's one thing that What Dreams May Come has is a vivid imagination. Maybe some readings into Dante's Inferno might have given the writers some
ideas as a start. But this goes way beyond.
I remember years ago at a Science Fiction convention Peter Davison said that
one nice thing about being the Doctor in Doctor Who was that you could create
your character from scratch. Since we've got no reports on the afterlife one
can the imagination soar in creating it. Soar it does and at times the creation
threatens to overwhelm the cast, but it never does.
Robin Williams doctor and Annabella Sciorra artist seen fated to be mated and
are. They raise two children, but both are killed in a car crash devastating the
parents both try to move on. Then Williams is killed in a car crash.
At that point the film shifts to the afterlife as Williams starts to get used to the
territory. Cuba Gooding appears as a kind of mentor/guide for him. The place looks like paradise, but paradise will not be complete without the family
reunited.
The afterlife does have its rules and Williams has to make quite the journey to
accomplish his goal. Williams, Sciorra, and Gooding give impeccable performances and the sets are just breathtaking.
If it isn't this is what heaven should be.