Guy Trilby (Jason Bateman), an old man with a weird and unspeakable personality, has already reached middle age, but the shadow of dropping out of school when he was a teenager has always bothered him. The American education community held a spelling competition "National Spelling Bee" for elementary and middle school students only, and all contestants were students below the eighth grade. By chance, Guy discovered a huge loophole in the rules of this national spelling competition. He took advantage of the blind spot in the registration to participate in the national youth group spelling competition and entered the finals with his superhuman word memory. However, Guy's advanced age was repeatedly questioned by the outside world, accusing him of breaking the rules of the competition. During the competition, Guy forged a deep friendship with a gifted Indian boy. However, as the competition progressed, more and more people began to hinder his participation, and Guy's real purpose of participating in this competition also surfaced. This film is the screen debut of the male protagonist Jason Bateman, who wrote and directed it himself.