A drifter navigates the fringes of Parisian society. The protagonist, a solitary man seeking direction, becomes entangled with a group of outsiders—misfits, lovers, and wanderers—who live on the city's margins. As he moves through this world, he connects with a woman whose struggles mirror his. Their relationship is fragile, shaped by fleeting moments of intimacy and the harsh realities of their surroundings. The film captures their attempts to escape their circumstances, but fate and the weight of their pasts make change elusive.

Two American executives for a cosmetics company travel to the Greek islands in search for a model for their new line of suntan lotion, "Venus". They run into more than they bargained for

A sickly young girl is given away by her father to a childless couple. Twenty years later, she marries her adopted father.

Shortly after murdering his professor, a young man encounters a sailor who offers him a position on his ship in exchange for 3 Danish crowns and his attention as he recounts his life story.

A 40-year-old mechanic whistles at a passing teenager; she stops and upbraids him. In embarrassment, he claims he was whistling at her companion, her 14-year-old cousin, Isabelle. This changes Isabelle's outlook on life: her favorite story is Anderson's "Little Mermaid," and she thinks that in Georges she's found her prince. She follows him, engages him in conversation, and turns up at his flat. At first, he pushes her away and tells her she's nuts, but slowly he finds that she brings out of him a playful self, and he likes her devotion. The attraction builds, threatening Georges' adult relationships, including that with Nelly, his sweetheart. Where on earth can this affair lead?

In Voyage of a Hand, Ruiz constructs another of his concentric labyrinths that hits us right in the multifaceted center of our confusion. We might decide that what we receive was a story full of intentions; or we might decide that it was a spineless joke empty of sense or direction. In any case, it will be difficult to deny the acid sense of humor that animates the film.

Ruiz on the film: "I began La présence réelle (The Real Presence) first. I. N. A. had commissioned me to produce a personal vision of the Festival d'Avignon. This became a fiction about the theater because if I had filmed the actual performances at Avignon I would have had to respect their staging, I would not be able to change anything. As such, I wouldn't be doing anything more than a retransmission of Antenne 2 or FR3. And since a lot would have to be paid for rights to each play, it would end up costing as much as a fiction feature. So it is a story about the theater, a bit Rivette-ish. I shot all the exteriors in Avignon, the interiors in Paris a few days later and I finish the film next Tuesday."