Paterson is a bus driver in the city whose name her shares: Paterson, New Jersey. Every day, he drives his route and observes the city as it drifts across his windshield. During his lunch break, he writes poetry into a notebook. In contrast to Paterson's steady routine, his wife Laura's world is constantly changing. New dreams come to her almost daily, each a different and inspired project.

The childless Parisian couple Maria and Richard, married for 20 years and slightly tired of living together, review their love life for one night after Maria's adventures with young men have been uncovered: Richard in their chic shared apartment, Maria in room 212 of the hotel across the street. He is visited by his unforgotten love when he was a young man, she by her husband in younger years. Companions from the past and the future as well as the great string-puller Monsieur Volonté join the quartet and set in motion a dreamily playful tragicomedy about the fleetingness and persistence of feelings, remorse and reconciliation.