With a deadly race of aliens ready to destroy Earth, a second race, allied with the humans, send a young girl, Leeloo (Jovovich), who is the fifth element, or supreme being. Her goal is to retrieve four stones and activate them in a temple in Egypt to save Earth from destruction.

Unfortunately things don't go smoothly and she requires the help of a number of humans, namely a priest (Holm) and a cab driver / ex-military expert, Korben Dallas (Willis). Others, such as Mr. Zorg (Oldman) and an army of alien shape-shifting mercenaries are also interested in the stones and the race to find them begins.