Nymphomaniac is the wild and poetic story of a woman's journey from birth to the age of 50 as told by the main character, the self-diagnosed nymphomaniac, Joe (Charlotte Gainsbourg).

On a cold winter's evening the old, charming bachelor, Seligman (Stellan Skarsgard), finds Joe beaten up in an alley. He brings her home to his flat where he cares for her wounds while asking her about her life. He listens intently as Joe recounts the lushly branched-out and multifaceted story of her life, rich in associations and interjecting incidents.