Ending of The Secret Path (1999) explained: Is the film based on a true story?

The television film The Secret Path (also called Chasing Secrets) is directed by Bruce Pittman and premiered on the CBS network on April 4, 1999. Bill C. Davis and Quinton Peeples wrote the film's screenplay, which is adapted from the 1994 book Childhood's Thief: One Woman's Journey of Healing from S**ual Abuse by therapist Rose Mary Evans.

The movie is set in the 1930s rural Southern America and tells the story of a young white girl named Jo Ann Foley, who is saved from exploitation by the love of an old African-American couple called Honey and Too Tall. The film's synopsis as per Rotten Tomatoes is as follows:

"A black couple (Della Reese, Ossie Davis) provide sanctuary for an abused white girl in the pre-civil rights South."

The movie is based on the true story of Jo Ann Foley, whose real-life experience with childhood trauma is recounted in the 1994 book.

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Is The Secret Path based on a true story?

A screenshot from the trailer of The Secret Path (Image via Multicom Entertainment, The Secret Path trailer, 01:40)

The film details the hardships faced by a young girl named Jo Ann Foley while growing up in 1930s rural Tennessee. Its story is based on her real-life experience with physical, mental, and s**ual abuse at the hands of her own family. It ultimately led to Jo Ann being depressed in adulthood and seeking therapy with Rose Mary Evans.

Evans shared her incredible story in the 1994 book titled Childhood's Thief: One Woman's Journey of Healing from S**ual Abuse.

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Plot summary

At the beginning of The Secret Path, an elderly Jo Ann is seen recounting her childhood experience to her daughter, Lydia. The film then flashes back to her birth in rural Tennessee in the 1930s, which is seen as a liability by her maternal grandfather. Jo Ann grows up feeling neglected in an unstable family that comprises of her mother Marie, maternal grandfather Hank, and young uncle Bobby.

However, at age seven, Jo Ann runs into a loving African-American couple named Honey and Too Tall, who show her love and affection for the first time in her life. The elderly couple take her under their wings and offer her the stability she is missing in her own family. Honey takes on a maternal role in Jo Ann's life and the two bond over cooking and attending church service together.

However, race plays a big part in their situation as the couple is unable to rescue Jo Ann from her abusive family by legally adopting her.

By the time she turns 14 years of age, Jo Ann is forced into slavery by her own grandfather. To escape that life, she runs away with a young soldier named Paul, who she meets at the local speakeasy. Eventually, with the love and support from Paul, Honey, and Too Tall, Jo Ann is able to escape from her abusive grandfather.

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The Secret Path movie ending explained

A screenshot from the television film The Secret Path (Image via Multicom Entertainment, The Secret Path trailer, 0:27)

After Jo Ann meets and falls in love with Paul, the two decide to run away and build a new life together. Honey gives them her savings so that they can move to a new place and start fresh. The movie's ending indicates that the two got married and raised a daughter together named Lydia. Jo Ann goes on to have a happy, loving family life after everthing she has been through.

In the last few moments of the film, Jo Ann sits down to write about her tragic childhood experiences in a book. However, in reality, the book was written by Rose Mary Evans, a therapist who treated Jo Ann for severe depression brought on by her childhood trauma.

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Cast and characters of The Secret Path

The film's main cast is given below:

• Della Reese as Honey
• Ossie Davis as Too Tall
• Crystal Bernard as Marie Foley
• Yvonne Zima as Jo Ann Foley (age 7)
• Madeline Zima as Jo Ann Foley (age 14)
• Lynda Mason Green as JoAnn Foley (age 40)
• Ron White as Hank Foley
• William Greenblatt as Bobby Foley
• David Roemmele as Bobby Foley (age 15)
• Zachary Bennett as Paul
• Jonathan Whittaker as Paul (older)
• Yolanda King as Ms. Evelyn
• Johnie Chase as Dr. Joe