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Spellbound is a documentary that simply follows eight youngsters as they prepare for the 1999 Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee. The focal participants consist of:

Harry - A hyperactive talker who made it on the cover of all the posters.
Angela – A girl who finds life boring in Texas and has Mexican parents who speak little English.
Ted – A boy who had never even heard of the Spelling Bee before.
April - A shy self-taught girl who would rather be studying five to six hours (on a school day) than go to the mall.
Neil – An Indian boy, receiving lots of after school teaching, four nights a week.
Nupur – A violin playing Indian girl, who was eliminated in the third round the previous year.
Emily – A girl who doesn't like spelling, but takes part because she likes to compete.
Ashley – The daughter of a single working class mother in Washington DC.

Director Jeffrey Blitz runs the first half with each child given a few minutes on how they prepare, what their parents think, and occasionally a few things that have nothing to do with the Spelling Bee. Angela imagines herself winning and says, "I picture myself appearing on Rosie O Donnell." After Neil has a serious spelling study with his father Rajesh, he is told, "You've done 4,000 words and you got one mistake. You're doing good." Also a dog licks the leg of April's mother while she's being interviewed, and she doesn't seem to mind! It's moments like this that make you question whether the kids and the families that are taking part are all just a little bit weird.

Ted's teacher says his trip to the National Spelling Bee will make him realize, "Hey, there's a lot of people out there that are like me. I will be able to fit in." Also one mother at the Nationals says her daughter is like a geek (!) "because she's into the words and the vocabulary," but amongst the other participants at the finals, "she's one of the crowd." Understandably they both mean well, but it does come off strangely worrying, suggesting that outside of this environment, they just wouldn't fit in at all.

With the second half focusing on the finals at the National Spelling Bee itself, the film suddenly turns into an intense and mentally draining experience. During the first few rounds these kids have to wait ages for their moment to spell a word that most of us hardly ever use in everyday conversation. Words that make you realise that you sure as hell can't spell any better. Just one letter wrong and they're out. While here, one of Neil's teachers reveals that Neil's grandfather in India has paid 1,000 people to pray around the clock for Neil to win. And if he does, then he's going to pay to feed 5,000 people in India. With that kind of pressure you can't help but feel that if he loses, then his father is going to nail him to a wall and whip him.

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