The film opens and closes with post-war scenes from the perspective of Eleanor Roosevelt as she visits the protagonist Lyudmila Pavlichenko during the former first lady's 1957 trip to the Soviet Union.
In 1941, Lyudmila is a student who has just gotten into university; to celebrate, she goes to a shooting range with her friends including a classmate named Masha, doing exceptionally well despite never have shot before.
During training, Lyudmila is shown as an excellent sniper, and eventually is partnered with a grizzled veteran named Makarov, who she falls in love with.