In 1815, France is on its knees after defeat at the battle of Waterloo, and ex-convict Jean Valjean and seamstress Fantine must decide their futures. Jean's past haunts him, and Fantine meets the charming Felix, but her friends worry for her.

A desperately poor Fantine is forced to leave Paris to find work and makes a difficult decision to give her young daughter Cosette a better way of life. Making her way to Montreuil she finds work in a factory, presided over by the generous Monsieur Madeleine.

A tormented Jean Valjean is forced by Javert and his own conscience to reveal his true identity, but a promise to Fantine changes everything. Things are looking up for the Thenardiers when a rich stranger arrives at their inn, but their joy is short lived.

A teenage Cosette begins to question her closeted life. Marius Pontmercy, now a young law student, confronts his grandfather Gillenormand after learning about his heroic late father. At Marius' new lodgings, a squalid tenement in Paris, his neighbours are a poor, violent and criminal family. Whilst out walking, Cosette catches Marius’ eye and feels a new life for her may be beginning. Valjean is disturbed to see his precious Cosette growing into a young woman. Meanwhile, Javert has climbed the ranks of the Paris police and realises he is close to his goal of recapturing an escaped prisoner.

Paris is on the brink of revolt and unrest spreads through the streets amongst the students and the workers. At General Lamarque's funeral, Marius's comrade Enjolras takes advantage of the chaos and leads a group to build a barricade in a Paris street. An increasingly paranoid Valjean takes Cosette to a safer location as Javert redoubles his efforts to find him. Although desperate for her love for him to be reciprocated, Eponine agrees to help Marius to try to find his true love. Without Cosette Marius feels he has nothing to live for and joins his friends at the barricade.

The army prepares for the next assault on the barricades and the fighting becomes more bloody and desperate. When Jean Valjean finds Marius he feels conflicted about the young man who wants to take Cosette from him. Javert is baffled and infuriated by Valjean's behaviour towards him. As Valjean's selfless actions shatter Javert's worldview, he is sent into a turmoil from which he will never recover. Valjean makes the ultimate heartbreaking decision thinking he is doing the best for his daughter Cosette, but underestimates the depth of her love for him.