The premise is the same: Med students decide to record what the afterlife is like by killing themselves and studying brainwaves. That's where the similarities stop.
This isn't a remake but a reboot. It continues from the first without referencing it BUT Kiefer reprises his role as Nelson Wright...there is no connection beyond that. I wish there was unfortunately (sorry for the one spoiler).
Each character has their own demons going into the experiment. It's a morality tale of having demons and confronting them. The only thing I didn't like about this movie is how easily things were resolved and even though it was just under hour and a half it felt like it dragged. Again I wish Kiefer's character came more into the plot having already experienced this.
The acting is good (Ellen Page is lead and carries this movie but Diego Luna and James Norton do a good job helping; this is old hat for Nina Dobrev), the storyline is good, and the directing is good...nothing is superb or knocks it out of the park. But I definitely enjoyed it. I'd give it 3 out of 5 stars.
Ps. the original for me was so dull when I watched it a couple weeks ago I actually shut it off without finishing it. I have no idea how it ended lol