Across the Midwest, someone is kidnapping and murdering young women. The FBI is convinced that the same person is behind all these crimes, and assigns agent Clarissa Starling to meet with the imprisoned maniac Hannibal Lecter, hoping that he will help to compile a psychological profile of the killer. Lecter himself is serving time for crimes including cannibalism, and agrees to help Clarissa only if she will share details of her personal life to feed his sick imagination.