Young FBI agent Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) is assigned to help save a missing woman from a psychopathic serial killer who skins his victims. Special Agent Jack Crawford (Scott Glenn) wants Clarice to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), a brilliant psychiatrist who is also a violent psychopath, serving life behind bars for various acts of murder and cannibalism. Crawford believes that Lecter may have insight into this case and that Starling can draw him out. In order to discover what he knows, Clarice must first gain Lecter's trust, but soon realizes that she may be in over her head. Based on Thomas Harris's 1988 novel of the same name, The Silence of the Lambs won Academy Awards in all of the top five categories, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay.