Words may define us but it's love that connects us. 11-year-old Eliza Naumann (Cross) comes from an odd family; they all divert their emotional frustrations into secret channels. When Eliza unexpectedly begins winning spelling bees what had been a stable dynamic within the family becomes disrupted; long held secrets emerge and a latent spiritual yearning is awakened in her withdrawn father Saul (Gere) and compulsive mother Miriam (Binoche). As Eliza moves closer and closer