Against director Sophie Fiennes' backdrop of film clips, original locations and reconstructed sets, Žižek presents his meditations on subjectivity, illusion, and desire, exploring what lies beneath the surface of cinematic representation. Part 3 in this documentary triptych considers the deceptive nature of appearance in films such as The Wizard of Oz and Alien: Resurrection, and in the work of directors ranging from Charlie Chaplin to David Lynch and Lars von Trier.

Žižek and Fiennes' follow-up to The Pervert's Guide to Cinema, The Pervert's Guide to Ideology, recently made its world premiere at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival®.