The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry

Dustin (Jansen Panettiere), Albert (Frankie Ryan Manríquez) and Mark (Allen Isaacson) are 12-year-old friends looking forward to a summer filled with simple adventures in 1970. Dustin has a crush on Tanya (Bailey Garno) and wrestles with the nerves that come with asking someone out for the first time. His main obstacle is Nick (Taylor Boggan), a neighborhood bully who is also chasing Tanya, setting up a nervous triangle of affections and bravado. On a routine lawn mowing errand for 75-year-old Jonathan Sperry (Gavin MacLeod), a man he has seen at church, Dustin unexpectedly discovers a quiet friendship that changes the course of his summer.

Mr. Sperry opens a Bible study for Dustin and his friends, gently nudging them toward kindness—especially toward Nick, whose rough exterior hides a yearning for respect. Sperry also pays Dustin to mow the lawn of a stubborn neighbor, Mr. Barnes (Robert Guillaume), with the unspoken instruction that Barnes should not know who is paying the bill. As the weeks unfold, more neighborhood boys join the study, and even Nick, after a few conversations with Sperry, begins to feel remorse for his bullying and slowly moves away from it. Dustin, meanwhile, gathers the courage to tell Tanya how he feels, but instead of asking her to be his girlfriend, he suggests she start reading the Bible, signaling a deeper, shared journey rather than a romance.

One day, Dustin rides by Sperry’s house and finds a crowd gathered: Sperry has died. At the funeral, Mr. Barnes visits Dustin to express gratitude for mowing his lawn and to acknowledge that Sperry’s influence helped shape his own outlook; Barnes openly calls Sperry a shining example of a Christian man, which deepens Dustin’s reflection on what it means to live with purpose. Dustin’s mother, Mary Jean Bentley, later reveals the secret history behind Sperry and Barnes—Sperry’s wife died in a car accident four years earlier, an event Barnes had a hand in while intoxicated. This painful revelation fuels Dustin’s resolve to carry Sperry’s lessons forward, renewing the neighborhood Bible study with the other boys and revisiting one of Sperry’s earliest teachings.

In the years that follow, the boys drift onto their separate paths. Tanya embraces reading the Bible and grows spiritually, though she and Dustin never pursue a romantic relationship. Barnes remains a steadfast friend to Dustin until his own death four years later. Albert finds a calling in Christian radio, while Mark becomes a professor in creationist biology. Dustin ultimately serves as the pastor of his church for about fifteen years, guided in part by Sperry’s Bible, and Nick grows into a faith-filled police officer. Each year, the four friends return to Sperry’s grave, sharing lemonade as they remember the mentor who started it all.

Last Updated: October 05, 2025 at 11:47