Pepper Flynt Busbee, Jakob Salvati, is an 8-year-old boy in the seaside town of O'Hare, California, who is small for his age and shares a deeply affectionate bond with his father, James (Kevin James). From the moment Pepper is born, his father cradles him in his arms and notices how tiny he is, a moment that threads itself through Pepper’s sense of self and the way he sees the world.
When a doctor first confirms Pepper’s size, the words “little boy” are spoken, and the nickname sticks like a label Pepper grows to hate. He learns to brace himself against the way others see him, even as his father’s steadfast love remains the bright constant in his life.
As World War II begins, Pepper’s older brother London is deemed ineligible for service because of flat feet, and their father joins the fight in his place. The news hits Pepper hard, and the home front feels suddenly fragile. In the same moment, Pepper clings to a growing belief that faith might be powerful enough to bring his father back.
To guide him, Pepper’s mentor, Father Oliver, hands him a list of tasks. A pivotal suggestion from Father Oliver is to befriend Hashimoto, a Japanese man in town, challenging Pepper to confront the prejudice he has absorbed from his surroundings. At first, Pepper wrestles with this idea, shaped by a culture that has learned to fear those who look different or who are seen as “the other.” Yet his curiosity and growing sense of justice push him to look beyond the easy judgments.
As Pepper grows closer to Hashimoto, he discovers a different kind of strength: the resolve to stand up to bullies who mock him for his height and to recognize the humanity in someone who is feared by others. The bond between Pepper and Hashimoto becomes a quiet but healing counterpoint to a town wrestling with fear during wartime.
Meanwhile, Pepper’s mother faces her own battlefield at home as she tries to hold the family together. Pepper’s brother London, along with Sam—a neighbor who has mourned a son lost in the war—confront Hashimoto one night, an act that results in Hashimoto being hospitalized. London is arrested, but Hashimoto chooses not to press charges, and he is released.
The war’s toll is felt acutely when an Army representative arrives with news that Pepper’s father has been killed and buried in the Philippines. Hashimoto attends the memorial service at the O'Hare Cemetery to pay his respects, and Pepper and Hashimoto sit together on a bench, sharing their grief and the sense of losing loved ones. Pepper returns to the cemetery to lay the list atop his father’s grave marker, a small ritual that keeps a part of his father close.
Later, the truth emerges in a piercing twist: the Army reveals that Pepper’s father did not die, and the man who did die had stolen Pepper’s father’s boots, with his dog tags attached, after being shot, leading to a misidentification. The family leaves town to visit James in the hospital, hopeful and careful with the new truth they’ve learned.
Pepper, ever thoughtful, brings James a gift he had bought earlier—the boots James had eyed before he left for war. When they arrive, James is there, but he has suffered a mild amnesia from a head injury. Pepper greets him with the nickname he has long used for his father, “partner,” and presents the boots with quiet pride. James clutches the boots, pulls Pepper close, and embraces the rest of his family. The moment holds a promise of reconciliation and reunion, a reminder that love can outlast doubt and distance. They all kneel around James’s chair, sharing a long, comforting group hug before making the journey back to O’Hare together.
