Intensely interesting thriller.

Rating: 8/10 (16 October 2015)

I felt like this was a bit over-hyped, but not overrated. I know those sound like the exact same thing, so I'll explain myself. The overall quality of the movie was about what I'd been led to believe it would be, but it didn't come in the way I had expected. Pretty much everything I'd heard about this movie before seeing it had something to do with Hannibal Lecter. Now, he's definitely a noteworthy and intriguing character, but not as much as his reputation seems to give him credit for. On the other hand, the serial killer plot with Buffalo Bill was more interesting than I thought it would be. Fortunately, this combination made it so that I wasn't disappointed by the hype, but that is something to be conscious of if you have high expectations for this movie, or any for that matter.
I won't go into too much detail with the plot to reduce spoilers. The external plot with Buffalo Bill is the most prominent, and has a good progression that will surprise the audience at times and likely won't confuse them so long as they pay attention. Hannibal Lecter is important to this plot since he gives Clarice information about Buffalo Bill, but his pathological nature takes prevalence whenever he is on screen. If you're somebody who has a hard time following complex plots, I would recommend doing a little preliminary research on the plot beyond watching the trailer. And if you are one of those people but think this will be the movie where you are "really going to latch on to every detail", keep working at it, but be honest with yourself and don't be afraid to ask a friend or blogger or FAQ page. It's not necessary to do that, but I think it will improve your experience and it's something I wish I had done.
Our protagonist is an FBI agent-in-training, Clarice Starling. She's confident in her abilities, but also aware of her youth and inexperience in the field. Both of these qualities are brought forward by the probing, vampiric, and insidious Hannibal Lecter, who seems to feed on people's souls as much as he does their bodies. He's got a lot of the qualities we love in our psychological villains in his ability to overcome the authority controlling him and the way he makes people like they are more prisoner than he is. I rather wish we got a closer look at how he deals with people he doesn't respect since Clarice seems to be one of the rare people that interest him. We see Buffalo Bill from a bird's-eye view, much as Clarice does. Most of what we/she know about him are based on second-hand accounts or evidence. Fortunately, the buildup of his off-screen reputation proves not to be disappointing in the few scenes where we see him at work. He seems to be quite as interesting a character as Lecter, though in a less psychological way. The second-tier characters consist of Dr. Chilton and Clarice's superior Jack Crawford. They're developed somewhat impressively for minor characters and have a decent amount of screen time and plot relevance.
I didn't find the acting hugely impressive, though the dialogue ranks among some of the better material I've come across. The directing is pretty good, creating suspense effectively throughout. The couple of action sequences might not have come off well in a strictly action movie, but since this is a thriller it worked just fine.
Regardless of your genre preference, I would recommend that pretty much everyone give this a try, unless you're an extremely casual movie fan that likes to watch movies passively. Otherwise, there aren't many reasons not to watch it. There aren't really any disgustingly disturbing images like you might expect, though it is certainly an intense film. It won't be as appealing to modern audiences, but don't let it's age turn you away. Just be willing to pay attention and you should be able to enjoy it. Overall Rating: 8.5/10.