“What Dreams May Come” is the kind of film that pushes every emotional button you have.

No matter what kind of strappin’ hunk of testosterone-filled manmeat you think you are, this film is going to get inside of your head and leave you all girly — so bring a hanky.

“What Dreams May Come,” starring Robin Williams, is the story of Chris Nielsen, a man who dies and awakens in heaven to find that he is existing in his own personal paradise — a painting of the place where he and his wife Anna (Annabella Sciorra) first met.

He is greeted by old friend and mentor Albert (Cuba Gooding Jr.), who tries to explain the rules of heaven and the nature of life and reality to Chris and indirectly to the audience.

Albert tells Chris that who we are is not essentially dependent on our bodies. Our essence is eternal, he says, and unrelated to our physical forms.

He also delivers one of the better lines in the film as well: “God is up there somewhere shouting that he loves us and wondering why we can’t hear him.”

The afterlife is a timeless place where we resolve all of our issues and get the chance to be at peace with ourselves.

The movie is one of the most mature, yet entertaining explorations of existentialism that is likely to come out for a long time.

Through the use of flashbacks, we are given a glimpse into the life of Chris and his family. The film explores the unique joys and the critical junctures that define who we are and the regrets that haunt us forever.

Without revealing any of the movie’s secrets, the audience learns later that Anna has died as well, and Chris will never be able to see her because she is in hell.

This gives the movie the kick in the pants it needs to get the characters moving and interacting. Chris refuses to spend eternity without his wife because that would be his idea of hell. With the help of Albert and a tracker (Max von Sydow) he sets off to find his soul mate.

“What Dreams May Come” can be viewed on many different levels. In one sense, there is as much to think about as you could ask for, but if you aren’t into the cerebral thing, there is next to nothing.

On the surface, the movie is about one man’s journey into the next world and his quest to save his wife’s soul before it is too late.

But on a deeper level the film shows how one man saves his own soul from despair. His journey is as much about himself as it is about his wife. He replays moments with his son and daughter and finds one of his most human faults to be that he can forgive himself because his children can.

Hell is for the guilty. It is the realm where people punish themselves because they cannot find the ability to forgive their actions.

No one has ever come out of hell, but this will not stop Chris from trying. It is when he learns the most important lesson about himself, that he is able to rescue himself and his wife from hell.

Visually, this is one of the most stunning films of the year. And even though it relies heavily on special effects, they are not intrusive.

The rich use of color is what strikes the audience immediately. Even while still on earth, each scene uses color to convey a message about memory, indigo flowers in the driveway, brilliant blue-water lakes and deep forest greens.

We are left with the impression that memories are like the canvas of our minds that each of us fills with our own thoughts and feelings, moments and instances.

Of course, once the movie shifts to heaven, it explodes from the screen in infinitely splendid variations.

And the representations of hell are every bit as disturbing as the images of heaven are comforting.

Bodies strewn across the ground, moaning and weeping. A field of faces sticking just above the ground airing their issues continuously. An upside-down cathedral which contains the ruins of Chris’ earthly home.

All of these come together to give a truly chilly vision of a realm which constitutes the greater part of our childhood nightmares.

This film will satisfy your curiosity about the afterlife, just as well as anything short of dying can.

4 stars out of five

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Greg Jerrett is graduate student in English from Council Bluffs.