It was ten years ago that FBI trainee Clarice Starling interviewed serial killer Hannibal Lecter while he was in a maximum security hospital for the criminally insane. Then the madman escaped into oblivion. Has he given up his evil ways? No, he's just been on hiatus. Lecter, you see, only thrives when he has someone to toy with, manipulate, and then devour. He's especially drawn to rude people; they stir up his appetite.

In the opening scenes of this sequel to 1991's The Silence of the Lambs, Clarice Starling (Julianne Moore) is trying to direct a drug bust in Washington, D.C. When some men on the team refuse to follow her orders, she ends up in a shootout with a woman suspect who is carrying a baby. She kills her in self-defense, but, no matter, the incident makes the Bureau look bad. She is severely reprimanded by Paul Krendler (Ray Liotta) from the Justice Department who has a personal vendetta against her. Her superiors reassign her to desk work. With her career on the downswing, she reopens the Lecter file.

Meanwhile, a Maryland multi-millionaire, Mason Verger (Gary Oldman), has posted a three million dollar reward for anyone who locates Lecter. He is the survivor of an attack by the fiendish genius that left his face horribly disfigured, his body twisted, and his mind obsessed with vengeance. Verger has devised a ghoulish plan to get even with Lecter.

In Florence, Italy, Detective Pazzi (Giancarlo Giannini) is spying on Dr. Fell (Anthony Hopkins), who has just become the curator of the Palazzo Capponi after the mysterious demise of his predecessor. The detective's suspicions about this cultured fellow turn out to be correct: He is none other than Hannibal Lecter, one of the ten most wanted criminals listed on the FBI's website. But this dangerous mastermind is one step ahead of him. Lecter has concocted a dramatic event for Pazzi that's echoes the demise of one of the detective's ancestors, known as the greedy betrayer depicted in Dante's Inferno.

In the sophisticated screenplay by David Mamet and Steven Zaillian based on Thomas Harris's best-selling novel, Clarice is caught between two control freaks — one obsessed with a dastardly dream of revenge and the other seeking to bewitch her with his powers. Ridley Scott directs this psychological thriller with panache, letting us savor all the small details that set it above other more modest efforts in this very popular movie genre.

For example, in a production full of lush visual settings caressed by the camera, one scene reminds us vividly of the power of scent. Clarice notices a distinctive smell of hand lotion on a letter she receives from Lecter. She takes it to a perfume company where the experts on scent tell her where she might find its rare ingredients. Smells can seduce us, warn us of peril, or lead us into temptation. In this instance, all three are at work. When Lecter and Clarice are finally thrown together in a jeopardy situation, she says to him: "Do right and you'll live through this." He responds wryly: "Spoken like a true Protestant."

This dance of attraction and rejection in the midst of danger is what both of them have yearned for, and the result is a kiss that has a high price. With her ardent pursuit of justice and her firm grasp of right and wrong, Clarice has met her dark twin, the one who incarnates the shadow side of herself. What she hates about Lecter is what she dislikes most about herself — a need to control, especially those who disrespect her. Hannibal shows us that no matter how many right things we do, we'll eventually have to square off with the unappealing side of ourselves.