Clarice: How The CBS Show Fits Into Silence Of The Lambs Movie Timeline

CBS has ordered a new drama series, Clarice, which follows the character of Agent Clarice Starling who was the main protagonist in 1991’s The Silence of the Lambs – how does the show fit in with the movie timeline?

The Silence of the Lambs was groundbreaking for the horror genre and genre films in general, sweeping the Academy Awards during its season with the ‘big five’: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Screenplay (Original or Adapted). Few other movies, let alone horror films, have managed such a feat; the movie has since become a staple in pop culture, most likely due to its charismatic and brutal villain, Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins). The movie was based on the book of the same name by Thomas Harris, who wrote others within the Hannibal Lecter series, which have also been adapted to film and television. Bryan Fuller’s series, Hannibal, which ran for three seasons on NBC from 2013-2015, put Dr. Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen) front and center, but left out Clarice Starling and much of The Silence of the Lambs due to legal rights.

In January 2020, news broke that CBS had ordered a pilot for Clarice, which would instead focus on FBI Agent Clarice Starling, who was played by Jodie Foster in The Silence of the Lambs. Like Hannibal did with Clarice’s character, the CBS crime drama seems intent to leave Hannibal Lecter out of her story, and focus instead on what came after the movie rather than dwell on the events that transpired during the film.

Where CBS’ Clarice Fits Into Silence Of The Lambs

Led by Rebecca Breeds in the title role, Clarice answers the question about what happened to Clarice Starling after Hannibal Lecter’s escape and the other events of The Silence of the Lambs. It is set one year after the movie, in 1993; Clarice returns to the FBI and continues her investigative work with serial killers, sex offenders, and other major criminals. CBS has been massively successful with other shows of this nature, such as Criminal Minds, which aired its series finale in 2020 after 15 seasons. The unique relationship between Clarice and Lecter could be explored in Clarice, as she certainly did learn a great deal from the doctor during the events of the movie, and got to see and understand more of how the criminal and psychopathic mind operates.

However, another interesting angle to take with Clarice would be to focus on how the Buffalo Bill case and her conversations with Dr. Lecter have affected Clarice in the long run. While certainly not as close to danger as other horror heroines like Laurie Strode in Halloween, the FBI Agent certainly got a taste for danger in The Silence of the Lambs, and the notion to set the events entirely after allows for enough of a disconnect that this could be explored organically. One major element in the 2018 Halloween movie that worked in its favor was the long-term effects of trauma and PTSD experienced by Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis), forty years after her run-in with Michael Myers on Halloween night.

A female-led crime drama is an interesting lens for television, and Clarice is poised to take great strides by working within the existing lore created by Thomas Harris in his novels. It can also continue beyond The Silence of the Lambs movie to create something exciting and different without needing to be tied too tightly to its source while simultaneously benefiting from something the vast majority will recognize.

About The Author

Jack Wilhelmi
(581 Articles Published)

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Jack Wilhelmi is the horror features editor at Screen Rant, and has been with the site since 2019. He is a lifelong fan of the horror genre, and loves any excuse to discuss genre-related topics, since none of his friends dare challenge him in horror trivia. He has been published on the independent horror blog Morbidly Beautiful, and has covered major genre film festivals such as Cinepocalypse in Chicago. He has also served as a judge for the Ax Wound Film Festival.

In his free time, he is a devoted dog dad to a high-spirited rescue pup named Peter Quill and enjoys volunteering with various animal rescue organizations. Jack likes to travel and explore dark tourism-related and other various haunted locations. He enjoys studying psychology, the paranormal, and will watch literally any schlocky B-movie on the planet for a laugh.

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