The biggest edge-of-your-seat summer thrill ride isn't The Matrix Reloaded, Charlie's Angels 2: Full Throttle, or even the sex-change drama From Justin to Kelly. It's a little documentary called Spellbound (opens Friday, June 13, at the Little) that follows eight children to the national finals of the Scripps-Howard Spelling Bee in Washington, DC.

That's right -- a spelling bee. Maybe you've drunkenly stumbled onto ESPN's annual coverage of the bee, and watched it with the same confusion-slash-horror-slash-curiosity as when you accidentally found late-night coverage of curling during the Olympics.

Spellbound, which was nominated for an Oscar, spends 45 minutes introducing us to its eight subjects, who come from incredibly diverse backgrounds. There's Angela, from Perryton, Texas, whose parents can't even speak English. There's Ashley, from DC's projects, whose single mother complains about the bee's lack of "publicticizin'." There's Neil, from San Clemente, California, whose parents hire a series of different coaches; and three-time finalist Emily, from New Haven, Connecticut, whose loaded family boasts an au pair. And there's the film-stealing Harry, the quintessential hyper-nerd who barely studies and whose own mother didn't even know he was competing.

I can't recall a more tense moment in any documentary than the excruciating seconds in Spellbound between the end of a kid's attempt at spelling a word you've never heard of and the judge's decision to ring the bell (meaning they got it wrong) or not. What's priceless, though, are the looks on the faces of both the children and their parents when the kids totally guess at a spelling, and assume they're about to get dinged, but don't. Do not miss this Rockwellian slice of Americana.