This sequel to the Oscar-winning 1991 film The Silence of the Lambs is adapted from Thomas Harris’s bestselling 1999 novel and is set seven years after Dr Hannibal Lecter escapes custody.
Lecter (Anthony Hopkins reprising his iconic, Academy Award-winning role) is living quietly under an assumed name in Florence, Italy, posing as an art scholar.
His peace is disrupted when multi-millionaire Mason Verger (Gary Oldman, pictured) – the only person to ever survive a Lecter attack, albeit hideously disfigured – launches a complex plot to capture Lecter and exact a brutal revenge.
Lecter had formerly been Verger’s psychiatrist and had drugged him and persuaded him to slice off his own face, feed it to his dogs, and eat his own nose.
Paralysed and faceless, Verger now plans to capture Lecter and feed him alive to monstrous, trained-to-kill pigs. To draw Lecter out of hiding, Verger manipulates the FBI and uses disgraced special agent Clarice Starling as bait.
As Lecter returns to America, Starling (Julianne Moore replacing Jodie Foster, who declined to return) finds herself caught between a corrupt justice system, Verger’s vengeful mercenaries, and her own unresolved psychological connection to the brilliant cannibal.
Ray Liotta co-stars as Paul Krendler, a corrupt, misogynistic Department of Justice official targeting Starling, while Giancarlo Giannini plays Inspector Rinaldo Pazzi, a greedy Florentine detective who tries to sell Lecter out and receives a well-earned disembowelment.
Original director Jonathan Demme and screenwriter Ted Tally both declined to return because they were uncomfortable with the source material’s extreme violence. Ridley Scott took over the director’s chair and hired Steven Zaillian to streamline the massive novel.
The film grossed over $351 million worldwide on an $87 million budget, but many critics criticised it for prioritising explicit gore (including an infamous brain-eating climax) over the intense psychological tension that made Silence of the Lambs a masterpiece.
Hannibal Lecter
Anthony Hopkins Clarice Starling
Julianne Moore Mason Verger
Gary Oldman Paul Krendler
Ray Liotta Inspector Rinaldo Pazzi
Giancarlo Giannini Allegra Pazzi
Francesca Neri Barney
Frankie Faison Dr Cordell Doemling
Zeljko Ivanek Evelda Drumgo
Hazelle Goodman FBI Agent Pearsall
David Andrews FBI Director Noonan
Francis Guinan DEA Agent Eldridge
James Opher Gnocco
Enrico Lo Verso Carlo
Ivano Marescotti Matteo
Fabrizio Gifuni Piero
Alex Corrado Tommaso
Marco Greco Sogliato
Robert Rietty Officer Bolton
Terry Serpico Special Agent Burke
Boyd Kestner Special Agent Brigham
Peter Shaw Asst. Mayor Benny Holcombe
Don McManus Larkin Wayne
Harold Ginn BATF Agent Sneed
Ted Koch Agent Benetti
Andrea Piedimonte Ricci
Ennio Coltorti Mr Konie
Johannes Kiebranz Dante
Bruno Lazzaretti Beatrice
Danielle de Niese
Director
Ridley Scott
Video
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His peace is disrupted when multi-millionaire Mason Verger (Gary Oldman, pictured) – the only person to ever survive a Lecter attack, albeit hideously disfigured – launches a complex plot to capture Lecter and exact a brutal revenge.
As Lecter returns to America, Starling (Julianne Moore replacing Jodie Foster, who declined to return) finds herself caught between a corrupt justice system, Verger’s vengeful mercenaries, and her own unresolved psychological connection to the brilliant cannibal.
