The Bible ...essentially says that people will be tortured in the next life if they are unbelievers or they do or fail to do x y and z.....
I think that is not essentially true, because Bible tells that eternal life is for righteous and others are destroyed.
These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
Mat. 25:46
And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell…
Matt. 10:28