After living life in the fast lane for 15 years, Ben Walker is given an It’s a Wonderful Life-like treatment by an angel named Mike. He shows Ben what his life might have looked like if he had followed God’s calling instead. What If… is funny and sweet, with strong Christian messages and few content concerns.
What if you had the chance to fix the mistakes of your past? What if you could go back and make different decisions? What if you had the chance to follow God’s plan for your life instead of your own?
Fifteen years ago, Ben Walker made the wrong choice. Despite protestations from his fiancée, Wendy, Ben chose to pursue a career in finance and business instead of ministry. As a result, Ben got everything he ever thought he wanted: money, fancy suits, a fast car and a partnership at a major firm. Of course, he lost Wendy along the way. But no matter, because now he’s engaged to Cynthia—though it’s difficult to say if she’d give him the time of day if it weren’t for all the other perks I listed.
With things going so well for him, you wouldn’t think Ben would have any regrets. He certainly doesn’t think so. But then an angel named Mike shows up and tells Ben that he got it all wrong.
Under God’s orders, Mike puts Ben in a “What If” scenario, hoping to remind Ben that there’s more to life than just money. In it, Ben is shown what would have happened if he had followed the Lord’s call into seminary and married Wendy.
Ben goes into this spiritual thought experiment kicking and screaming. But as he surrenders to his new reality, he realizes that maybe life in the fast lane isn’t as fulfilling as he once thought. Maybe he did get it wrong. Maybe he does have regrets.
So what if he stopped trying to follow his own idea of what his life should be and started following God’s instead?
Before going through the “What If” scenario, Ben isn’t exactly a bad guy, but he is selfish and self-serving. He only cares about money and the material things it can buy. And he has convinced himself that these things make him happy.
However, the “What If” challenge changes Ben. He grows to love Wendy and their two daughters, Kimberly and Megan. He’s reminded that it’s OK to make mistakes, as long as you own up to them and try to do better in the future. And he realizes that you don’t need money to enjoy the simple things in life—things like your favorite cake on your birthday or a video of your family’s favorite memories together.
There’s actually quite a bit more positive to say about this film, but I’ll unpack those things in Spiritual Elements.
A man gives money to a homeless woman. Megan selflessly offers Ben her piggy bank after she catches him searching through Wendy’s purse for cash.
At the beginning of the film, we witness Ben’s first decision that goes against God’s calling. He’s at a bus station, saying goodbye to Wendy before he heads to the big city to start his career in finance. Wendy pleads with him to stay, telling Ben that he could go to seminary instead, and that they could start the ministry they’ve been talking about. But Ben is insistent that this is what’s best. Wendy gives him a Bible, hoping it will help him to remain grounded. But as Ben is leaving, it slips out of his bag, a foreshadowing of what’s to come.
Sure enough, 15 years later, Ben is no longer following the Lord. By his own admission, he hasn’t even set foot in a church during that time. So when Wendy sends him an invitation to a fundraiser for their old church, he brushes it off. He tells his assistant to send a donation check, since he thinks that’s probably all Wendy wants.
And that’s about the time that Mike intervenes. He tells Ben that he’s been sent by God to facilitate a “What If” scenario. Essentially, Ben is forced into the life he would have had if he hadn’t gotten on the bus all those years ago. As a result, Ben finds himself married to Wendy with two kids. He has a doctorate in religious studies from Moody Bible College. He’s just become reverend of the Little White Chapel, the church in his and Wendy’s small hometown. And that Bible that Wendy gave him—the one he left at the bus station—has mysteriously found its way back to Ben.
Ben bumbles his way through a Sunday morning service, telling churchgoers that God wants them to be happy, so they should make as much money as possible in order to buy the things that will make them happy. Most of the church members are appalled (including Wendy). A few even reprimand Ben, declaring that they won’t be attending in the future. But others are delighted to be told that it’s OK to focus on material things.
Mike informs Ben that things won’t get easier—and that he won’t be released from the “What If” scenario—until he submits to God’s will and allows events in that alternate life to play out. He encourages Ben to try to be the Ben Walker that he could have been if he’d made different choices. So, Ben gives in. He starts to read his Bible, even preparing and delivering a sermon about Moses and the burning bush.
But Ben’s ultimate test comes when Mike summons him to speak to a man who is dying in the hospital. Mike tells Ben that it’s the guy’s last chance to know the Lord. So Ben sits with the man and tells him the parable of the vineyard owner. He tells the man that even Judas, who betrayed Jesus, was wanted by God. Judas only missed out because he refused to listen. Convinced, the man asks Ben to walk him through the Sinner’s Prayer. Ben does so, and as he does, it becomes clear that Ben has had a change of heart, too: He no longer wants to return to his old life. Instead, he wants to follow God himself and stay with Wendy and their daughters.
From that moment on, Ben starts to listen and obey God’s calling for his life.
Along the way, Mike and Ben talk about angel classifications. Mike tells Ben that he’s not allowed to demonstrate his angel powers while “in earthly form.” Two angels fist bump after someone is led to the Lord. We learn that most people can’t see angels: Ben’s situation is unique, so he can see Mike for the purposes of the “What If.” When Mike first shows up to help Ben, Ben’s car glitches out, breaking down on the side of the road. Mike says that angels don’t and can’t lie.
Hebrews 13:1-2 is written on the back of a tow truck. Ben reads 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 out loud to Wendy. Ben’s daughter Megan prays with him one night, asking God to help her dad with whatever he’s going through (since even she can tell something is off) and thanking God for saving us all. Later in the film, Ben overhears Wendy praying for him. Her love and devotion—the very fact that she would take time out of her day to pray earnestly for him—help him to realize how much he missed out on by following his own path instead of God’s.
When Kimberly says she doesn’t want to go to church, her mom tells her that unless she starts being more grateful to Jesus for the things she has, her parents will make her give some of those things back, starting with her cellphone.
Megan asks Ben why her goldfish died, and he tells her that perhaps the fish didn’t love Jesus the way it should have. This response causes Megan to flee the room in tears, saying, “My goldfish is in hell?”
Ben and Wendy do “commitment testing” with a young, engaged couple at their church to help them make sure that they are ready to make the commitment of marriage before they take vows. During the conversation, Wendy tells them that when God blesses a union, he sends thousands of consolations and graces every day to help us remember that each moment together is a gift. However, Ben scares the couple by informing them that 50% of divorces are caused by money problems. And the couple winds up leaving, with the bride-to-be in tears.
However, a few days later, the couple thanks Ben. Although it wasn’t Ben’s intention, the conversation really got them thinking about their future. And they decide to change their attitudes and habits so that they can build a marriage that lasts.
Early in the film, Ben jokes that he’s a fortune teller. His family tells him to make a wish before blowing out a birthday candle. A church placard says, “Free ticket to heaven. Details inside.”
Ben and Wendy kiss several times throughout the film. A couple of women wear some cleavage-baring tops. Ben winkingly offers a fist bump to an engaged guy after hearing Genesis 2:25, which says the man and his wife were naked and had no shame.
Before Ben enters his “What If” scenario, he invites his fiancée, Cynthia, to a weekend getaway in Paris, implying that they would be sharing a hotel room while there. Mike later observes that Ben likes “fast” women. And Ben recalls that when he met Cynthia, she was wearing a bikini.
During the “What If” scenario, Wendy observes Kimberly flirting with a boy about her own age. She tells Ben she’d like to get to know the boy’s parents better before the two teens spend more time together. Ben “handles” the situation by paying the teen to stay away from her, inadvertently humiliating Kimberly and hurting her feelings. (Later, he makes up for it by arranging for the teenagers to see a Christian concert together with their mothers chaperoning from a few rows back.)
Because of Ben’s initial poor attitude during the “What If,” he finds himself sleeping on the couch after a fight with Wendy. Kimberly asks him if they are going to get a divorce, since that’s what happened to her friend’s parents after her dad started sleeping on the couch. But even though Ben still hasn’t bought into the “What If” plan completely yet, he reassures his daughter that no, he and Wendy will not get divorced. Later on, Wendy talks to Ben about the subject, too. But in that conversation, she makes it very clear that she has no intentions of ever leaving him. Rather, she wants them to talk through their problems and find a solution that works.
Ben gets knocked unconscious on a few occasions via an airbag deploying; punches to the head (courtesy of Mike); and slipping and falling. [Spoiler Warning] When the “What If” is over, he wakes up in a hospital room to discover that he had been in a car crash.
A man dying in a hospital is in pain. He presses a button that administers medication to manage the pain, but it does nothing since he has maxed out the safe dosage.
Ben is warned that the “What If” scenario isn’t just a dream; it’s very real. So if he does something “stupid,” such as jumping in front of a car or sticking his finger in a light socket, he will die. Ben heeds that advice, but Mike drives the point home by hitting Ben on the hand with a wrench, causing pain and proving that what’s happening isn’t a dream.
We hear that Kimberly cut her finger while shredding carrots, and she sports a bandage on that finger.
None. But Kimberly calls her sister a “stupid twerp,” and someone else exclaims, “Shoot!”
Ben recalls that when he met Cynthia, he had had “way too many mojitos.” Wendy makes a sarcastic remark about Ben’s attitude, saying, “Blessed are those who are single because they can drink beer and watch ESPN all night.”
Cynthia, Ben’s pre-“What If” fiancée, is rude to people she thinks are beneath her, including Ben’s secretary. Ben eventually realizes how materialistic Cynthia actually is. If he hadn’t been rich, she never would have given him the time of day.
We learn that a man lied to his son about their family’s business and finances. Before the “What If” scenario, Ben is told that humility doesn’t “become” him. Kimberly sometimes acts out, rolling her eyes, making sarcastic remarks and slamming her bedroom door.
What is the meaning of life?
“Life is life. You live. You die. That’s it. There is no point,” Ben says.
“That’s the dumbest thing you’ve said so far,” Mike rebukes.
Before his “What If” experience, Ben truly didn’t have a clue. He thought he was happy. He thought that money could solve any problem. So, God gives him the “come to Jesus” of a lifetime.
As Ben finds out, there’s a lot more to life: love and forgiveness, sacrifice and hardship. But when you have God on your side—and all the gifts He’s given you, such as a family—then those things are a lot easier to overcome.
And really, it’s not that complicated, Mike says: God loves you, so you should love other people. God sacrificed everything to be with you, so sacrifice everything. It’s not easy, per se, but it is simple.
Content-wise, there’s almost nothing here for families to be concerned about. It’s obviously good to remember that we don’t actually get “What If” scenarios in real life (something for your kids to keep in mind as they watch it with you, too). But beyond that, this film is solidly rooted in Scripture.
I didn’t know about What If… when it first came out in 2010. But if I had, it almost certainly would have been at the top of my family’s watch list for its strong Christian messages and lack of concerning content.
Luckily, families can enjoy the film on the big screen once again, as it’s being rereleased in select theaters Aug. 5 and 7.
Emily studied film and writing when she was in college. And when she isn’t being way too competitive while playing board games, she enjoys food, sleep, and geeking out with her husband indulging in their “nerdoms,” which is the collective fan cultures of everything they love, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate and Lord of the Rings.
