Amelie Poulain (Audrey Tautou) lives in Paris, and in a world of her own.

Introverted, but with a very extroverted imagination, Amelie is obsessed with the small pleasures of life, skimming stones over water, plunging her hand into a sack of grain, and cracking the top of her Crme Brulee with a spoon.

Amelie believes she can twist the fate of those around her by affecting the slightest changes in their environment.

She sets about making people fall in love, punishing her nasty neighbours and giving a new lease of life to the lonely or unloved.

But when it comes to finding her own true love, Amelie conducts a campaign of stealth to win the heart of Nino (Mathieu Kassovitz) and is almost afraid of where her destiny will take her.