Overview
A young F.B.I. trainee faces her greatest challenge: a brilliant but dangerous mind behind bars.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Extreme
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Graphic
- eerie
- foreboding
- claustrophobic
- late night thriller viewing
- serious crime cinema marathon
What critics said
Critics broadly regard the film as an exceptionally controlled and terrifying crime thriller elevated by Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, and Ted Levine.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Clarice must interpret Hannibal Lecter's cryptic clues while resisting his psychological manipulation.
Clarice's advancement, rural background, and status as a young woman shape how colleagues and suspects perceive her.
Close confrontations with Lecter and the killer's lair turn eye lines, darkness, and restricted space into sources of dread.
The FBI investigation combines victim patterns, physical evidence, and Lecter's criminal insight to pursue Buffalo Bill.
Films like The Silence of the Lambs, and why
Se7en
Shares psychological horror, serial killer investigation, and a tense predator investigator relationship.
Manhunter
Shares police procedural suspense, serial killer profiling, and disturbing crime imagery.
Zodiac
Shares female investigative agency, psychological dread, and a threatening criminal antagonist.
Prisoners
Shares institutional menace, imprisoned psychopaths, and claustrophobic psychological tension.
Movie Details
- Director
- Jonathan Demme
- Release Date
- 1991-02-14
- Runtime
- 119 min
- Rating
- 8.3 / 10 (18571)
Cast
- Jodie Foster
- Anthony Hopkins
- Scott Glenn
- Ted Levine
- Anthony Heald
- Brooke Smith
- Diane Baker
- Kasi Lemmons
- Frankie Faison
- Tracey Walter
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Plex
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Silence of the Lambs about?
- An ambitious FBI trainee enters a chilling psychological bargain with an imprisoned cannibal to stop a serial killer before another woman disappears.
- What is The Silence of the Lambs like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Silence of the Lambs as brisk, its intensity as extreme and its storytelling as layered.
- Is The Silence of the Lambs violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in The Silence of the Lambs as graphic.
- What did critics think of The Silence of the Lambs?
- Critics broadly regard the film as an exceptionally controlled and terrifying crime thriller elevated by Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, and Ted Levine.
- Which films are like The Silence of the Lambs?
- Films with a similar feel include Se7en, Manhunter, Zodiac, and Prisoners.
- How long is The Silence of the Lambs?
- The Silence of the Lambs runs 119 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Silence of the Lambs?
- In United States, The Silence of the Lambs streams on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads.
