No Wonder the 'Hannibal' Movie Is Forgotten - It Refused To Commit to The Bit

Silence of the Lambs is one of the most acclaimed horror films of all time—and for good reason. The film is a largely faithful adaptation of Thomas Harris’ original thriller and boasts a plethora of fantastic performances. But despite the fact its sequel had an equally talented cast, no one really remembers it. Sure, Anthony Hopkins doesn't have the same chemistry with Julianne Moore he had with Jodie Foster— but Hopkins and Moore still pulled off a fantastic cat-and-mouse dynamic. So what's keeping Hannibal back?

'Hannibal' Is Scared of Its Own Source Material

Hannibal refuses to commit to its source material’s original ending: Hannibal and Clarice running off to Argentina. Yes, Hannibal and Clarice run off together. While many audience members would find that a distinctly horrifying ending for the infamous heroine, one might say that’s the point. Harris’ original ending is dark and gothic in a very specific way the Hannibal film refuses to engage with. There’s an ambiguity in the novel’s ending as to whether Clarice’s choice to run away with Hannibal is a choice at all.

Harris hauntingly writes in the novel's final pages "Somewhere Starling may hear a crossbow string and come to some unwilled awakening, if indeed she even sleeps." This ambiguity is partly because Hannibal tries (keyword: tries) to brainwash her, but also undeniably stems from the patriarchal violence the FBI commits against Clarice when they scapegoat her over a fumbled operation. Does Clarice go with Hannibal because the brainwashing works? Does the FBI fail her so catastrophically that she feels the only place she still had in the world was at Hannibal’s side? Or does Clarice feel an inkling of something for the infamous cannibal too?

Certainly the film, in having Clarice outwit Hannibal yet again, ends in a way that reads as more empowering on a surface level, and Clarice Starling is iconic as a strong female protagonist in the horror genre. But though Clarice as an empowering figure may hold importance for audiences, not allowing her to change or grow to keep that empowering angle is a disservice to the character. She isn't just a kickass FBI agent, she's also a complex and often headstrong character with her own plethora of faults and traumas to inform her every decision.

'Hannibal' Doesn't Let Clarice Change

Harris understands this implicitly. The ending to the original Hannibal novel does not exist to shock audiences or degrade Clarice, but to acknowledge the multitudes within her. Within Harris' Hannibal universe, Clarice and Hannibal are presented as uniquely suited to one another. Their traumas don't mirror one another, but instead echo. As horrifying and outright disturbing as Clarice's book ending is, it's also understandable.

Hannibal the film retreads a lot of the book's plot— Clarice being scapegoated by the FBI, the sexual harassment of Clarice's boss Paul Krendler, hunting Hannibal, the showdown on Mason Verger's pig farm, Hannibal making a meal of Krendler's brains as revenge. But in being loyal to the book for all but the ending, Hannibal winds up just reading as confused. The film has so much romantic coding between Clarice and Hannibal that goes unfulfilled. Hannibal is enamored with Clarice, but so too is Clarice enamored with him. Their cat-and-mouse chase through a crowded mall feels more like a dance than a criminal pursuit. Hannibal bridal-carries Clarice out of Verger's pig farm when she gets knocked out. He even kisses her at the end of the movie! A kiss that Clarice uses to handcuff him to her to trap him. But even in trying to catch him, Clarice's instinct is still to keep him close. Hannibal comes so close to committing to a dark, but dauntless, romance, but muzzles itself at the last minute.

While Clarice triumphantly tricking Hannibal into losing a hand is more empowering than being whisked away to Argentina by a cannibalistic serial killer, it is a creative choice that leaves her in the same position as before. At the beginning of Silence of the Lambs, Clarice struggles against the misogynistic culture of the FBI. The film repeatedly shows how out of place she is made to feel as a woman in the FBI. But by the end of the film, she's graduated from training, gotten an actual badge, solved the Buffalo Bill case, and saved a life. Clarice is allowed to change as a character in Silence of the Lambs.

But Hannibal, in its hesitancy to commit to the novel's original ending, provides Clarice no room to change. She must be steadfast and resilient and never tempted by the wicked workings of Hannibal Lecter. Even while drugged and still being actively scapegoated by the bureau she's dedicated her entire adult life to, Clarice isn't allowed a moment of temptation— much less the character complexity required for her choice from the book to make sense. Even if one were to interpret the novel as Clarice having no agency on her end, character decay can be as interesting as character growth. But Hannibal offers Clarice neither. In service of a narrative that is comfortable, Hannibal serves its audience stagnant characterization and a predictable ending that goes down no easier than a heaping bite of Ray Liotta's brains.

Hannibal is available to stream on Tubi in the U.S.

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