SXSW 2025 Review: SPREADSHEET CHAMPIONS, The Thrill and the Agony of Numbers

A once-in-a-lifetime competition in ... Microsoft Excel?

Spreadsheet Champions
The film enjoys its world premiere at SXSW 2025.

Directed by Kristine Kaskov, the latest entry in the ever-growing, ever-appealing sub-genre of 'competition documentaries' is a riveting film about spreadsheets.

Though that concept may sound like an oxymoron, especially to those of us who are math-challenged, the film tackles its premise head on by pointing out that spreadsheets are the basis for a great deal of computer software that helps most of us get things done in today's world. This is then bolstered by archival footage about the origins of computerized spreadsheets. (Hello my old friend VisiCalc!)

With its relevance established, we're then introduced to six young national champions in a world-spanning competition that culminates in a world championship in Florida, sponsored by Microsoft. Naturally, while the tournament itself encompasses categories devoted to other Microsoft software -- Word, PowerPoint -- the film finds plenty of interest by focusing on the Excel category, with young people who are endlessly fascinated by spreadsheets and their possibilities.

What makes the competition -- and the film -- distinctive is that the competition is a one-time-only affair for the competitors. Past champions have enjoyed much professional success, we are informed, which adds to the pressures that begin to mount for the competitors.

Some of them arrived talking like Academy Award nominees: 'It's an honor just to be nominated.' Bear in mind, though, that all six entered the world competition as national champions already, which requires a fierce competitive spirit. Despite their tender ages -- one is just 15, while the others range from 17 to 22 -- their intelligence has already marked them as "nerds" to their fellow students and the general population, which is bound to have an effect on their personalities.

Coming from Australia, Cameroon, Greece, Guatemala, the U.S., and Vietnam means that each competitor may also be bucking the trends of their national cultures, and dealing with entrenched ideas about education that have been handed down to them. Thus, as an example, the female competitor from Guatemala is fully aware that she is the only girl versus all boys in her native math classroom, and has developed a brightly confident (non-Microsoft) outlook on life.

It is cheering to see how the families of the competitors support them, by and large, even if they do not have a mathematical perspective. Because the competitors are (mostly) modest about their own capabilities and accomplishments, that makes them all the more appealing. So when the doc reaches the final competition itself, I was rooting for everybody to win, or at least finish in the top 10.

Of course, not everybody wins. But where Spreadsheet Champions excels (sorry) is in making every competitor someone you can root for, no matter whether they win, place, or show. Kristine Kaskov's breezy pace and animated direction ensures that every formula adds up. (Sorry.) Yes, I'm getting carried away, because I enjoyed the film's vim and vigor. (Not sorry.)