'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 Skarsgaård), finds Joe beaten up in an alley. He brings her home to his flat where he takes care of her wounds while asking about her life.
He listens intently as Joe recounts the lushy branched-out and multifaceted story of her life, rich in associations and interjecting incidents. As her stories progress into her adulthood, Joe's journey of self-discovery leads to darker complications.