The Silence of the Lambs is a thriller that follows FBI trainee Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster), who is sent by her supervisor (Scott Glenn) to interview ferociously intelligent serial killer Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lechter (Anthony Hopkins) at his cell in a mental hospital in the hopes that he can provide insight into the mind of killer-at-large Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine), whose current abductee happens to be the daughter of a senator.

Intrigued by Clarice, Lechter demands information about her personal life in exchange for clues, and the two begin to form a strangely intimate connection.