FBI trainee Clarice Starling is assigned to help find a missing woman and save her from 'Buffalo Bill, ' a psychopathic serial killer who skins his victims. Clarice attempts to gain a better insight into the twisted mind of the killer by talking to another psychopath, Dr. Hannibal "The Cannibal' Lecter, as he used to be a respected psychiatrist. FBI agent-in-charge Jack Crawford believes that the mind manipulator Lecter may have the answers to their questions to help locate the killer. Clarice must try and gain Lecter's confidence before he will give away any information. But, he will only help Clarice if she feeds his morbid curiosity with details from her own complicated life. This twisted relationship forces Clarice not only to confront her psychological demons, but leads her to go face-to-face with the demented killer.