Pay It Forward is a 2000 American dramatic film based on the novel of the same name by Catherine Ryan Hyde.

Plot

An 11-year-old schoolboy in Las Vegas, Nevada named Trevor McKinney (Haley Joel Osment) is given a class project to complete by his social studies teacher Eugene Simonet (Kevin Spacey). His task is to come up with a plan that will change the world through direct action. On his way home from school, Trevor notices a homeless man, Jerry (James Caviezel) and decides to make a difference in Jerry's life. Trevor then comes up with the plan to "pay it forward" by doing a good deed for three people who must in turn each do good deeds for three other people, creating a charitable pyramid scheme. Trevor's plan is to help Jerry by feeding and housing him.