Spots 
Mary Lennox wakes up in India to find her bungalow empty and silent. A sudden cholera outbreak has killed her parents and the servants who catered to her every whim. Left entirely alone in the quiet house, she is eventually discovered by British officers. Arrangements are made to ship the disagreeable nine-year-old orphan across the ocean to England.
Mary arrives in England, sour-tempered and unloved, to be taken in by her uncle Archibald Craven. On the journey to Yorkshire, Mrs. Medlock, the housekeeper of Misselthwaite Manor, explains that Mr. Craven is a hunchbacked recluse who locks himself away. Mary learns that her new home is a sprawling, dark estate with a hundred locked rooms sitting on the edge of a desolate moor.
A night drive in a closed carriage takes Mary across the vast, bleak expanse of the Yorkshire moor. The wind howling over the heather fills her with uneasy foreboding. Upon reaching Misselthwaite Manor, she is ushered into a stark set of rooms with strict orders to stay out of sight.
Mary meets Martha Sowerby, a cheerful Yorkshire housemaid whose frank nature contrasts sharply with the subservient Indian servants Mary knew. Martha tells her about the surrounding grounds, including a secret walled garden that has been locked for ten years since Mr. Craven's wife died there. Outside in the gardens, Mary encounters the old gardener Ben Weatherstaff and a friendly robin redbreast.
Wandering the grounds, Mary listens to the robin and feels her bitter temperament begin to soften in the fresh air. Martha speaks fondly of her brother Dickon, a boy who charms wild animals on the moor. Late at night, Mary hears a faint, distant weeping echoing through the winding corridors of the manor, though Mrs. Medlock dismisses her questions.
Rainy weather confines Mary inside the massive mansion, prompting her to explore its deserted corridors and hidden rooms. She finds secret cabinets, old portraits, and ivory miniature elephants tucked away in forgotten corners. Listening closely at a door, she hears the strange crying sound again, but Mrs. Medlock catches her and angrily orders her back to her room.
Mary spends more time outside, intrigued by the locked garden whose high ivy-covered walls lack any visible door. The friendly robin hops near a freshly turned patch of earth, unearthing a buried brass key tarnished by ten years in the soil. Mary realizes she holds the key to the secret garden, though she still cannot find the doorway.
Strong winds blow aside the thick curtains of ivy clinging to the stone wall, revealing a hidden iron door handle. Mary inserts the rusted brass key, turns the lock, and steps into the forgotten garden. She discovers a tangled, overgrown sanctuary of dormant rosebushes and pale green shoots pushing up through the soil.
Keeping her discovery a secret, Mary works in solitude to weed around the choked perennial shoots and give them room to grow. Martha sends a letter to her family requesting garden tools and seeds. Mary begins to feel a new sense of appetite, vigor, and purpose as she digs in the rich earth.
Dickon Sowerby arrives at the manor grounds carrying a spade, packets of flower seeds, and a tamed crow named Soot. Mary leads him through the hidden door into the secret garden, trusting him with her prized secret. Dickon inspects the tangled rosebushes, declaring that many of them are still alive and will bloom with proper care.
Dickon and Mary spend hours working together in the hidden garden, clearing dead wood and planting fresh seeds. Dickon points out a missel thrush building a nest, teaching Mary to work quietly so as not to startle the nesting birds. Mary returns inside transformed, her once pale face flushed with health and activity.
Archibald Craven returns briefly to Misselthwaite Manor and summons Mary for their first meeting. Expecting a terrifying figure, Mary finds a gentle but deeply grief-stricken man consumed by sorrow over his late wife. When he offers to grant her a request, she asks for a bit of earth to plant seeds, and he grants her permission to garden anywhere she likes.
Waking up in the middle of a stormy night to the sound of crying, Mary follows the sound down forbidden hallways. She discovers a hidden bedroom containing Colin Craven, her ten-year-old cousin who has been kept bedridden out of fear that he will grow up a hunchback. Colin acts as a spoiled young rajah, commanding servants from his bed while obsessing over his fragile health and impending death.
Mary spends hours talking with Colin, sharing stories of India, the moor, and Dickon's animal companions without revealing the secret garden. Colin is fascinated by Mary's directness and forgets his usual hypochondria and fear of illness. He demands that Mary visit him daily, using his authority over the household to keep her companionship.
Mary tells Dickon about Colin's secret existence and his belief that he will die young. Together they plan to bring Colin out into the sunshine and introduce him to the secret garden to heal his mind and body. Spring blooms rapidly across the Yorkshire countryside, filling the garden with green leaves and budding flowers.
Colin throws a fury-filled tantrum when Mary chooses to work in the garden with Dickon rather than obey his summons. Refusing to tolerate his spoiled behavior, Mary confronts him directly and refuses to be bullied. Colin is shocked by her refusal to cater to his whims, leading him to reflect on his own arrogance.
Later that night, Colin flies into a violent hysterical fit, screaming that he feels a lump growing on his spine. Mary rushes into his room, fiercely orders him to stop screaming, and demands to examine his back herself. She finds nothing wrong with his spine except fatigue and tension, reassuring him so completely that he falls into a calm sleep.
Mary tells Colin the full truth about the secret garden and promises to take him there as soon as the weather warms. Dickon visits Colin's bedroom bringing a newborn lamb, a tame fox cub, and his crow, filling the invalid boy with wonder. Colin agrees to begin going outdoors in a wheeled chair to see the secret garden firsthand.
Spring arrives in full bloom as Colin is wheeled out to the secret garden by Mary and Dickon. Passing through the hidden doorway, Colin gazes up at the sunlit canopy of blossoms and greenery for the first time in years. Overcome by the beauty of the living garden, Colin declares that he will get well and live forever.
Colin spends the afternoon in the garden experiencing the outdoor world for the first time. He watches green sprouts pushing through the earth and listens to Dickon explain how living things grow. The fresh air and excitement stimulate Colin's appetite, marking the beginning of his physical recovery.
Old Ben Weatherstaff peers over the garden wall from a ladder, startled to find Mary, Dickon, and the supposedly crippled Colin inside. Ben breaks into tears of relief upon seeing Colin, calling him his mother's child. Incensed by any implication of weakness, Colin stands upright on his own feet for the very first time to prove he is healthy.
Colin proudly walks a few steps and plants a small rose tree in the garden soil before the sun sets. The children form a pact with Ben Weatherstaff to keep Colin's secret recovery hidden from the household staff until he can walk home normally. Colin leaves his wheelchair behind each day, growing stronger through secret exercise and manual work in the soil.
Colin invents his own theory of Magic, believing that positive thoughts and outdoor life channel a healing force into his body. Every day the three children gather in the garden to chant, exercise, and cultivate plants under the open sky. Colin's posture straightens, his muscles fill out, and his once sickly complexion turns rosy and robust.
To keep their secret safe, Mary and Colin pretend to retain their sour appetites indoors while secretly eating hot potatoes and fresh milk provided by Mother Sowerby. The servants remain bewildered by the children's gaining weight and glowing health despite their apparent lack of appetite. Colin continues his physical training inside the garden, running and wrestling with Dickon in preparation for his father's return.
Discover how isolation, nature, and human connection transform sickly, neglected children into vibrant, healthy lives.