Yes, 6 out of 10. It's a graphic thriller with a cannibal at the center and a lot of very uncomfortable scenes.
🐱THE SCARE SIGNAL
SCARE SCORE
6 /10
🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱
DREAD LEVEL
Medium
Expect a night of looking at your kitchen differently.
DOG
Dog: fine
fine, no dog dies.
Ruling: Watch it only if you can take graphic violence, and eat before you start.
Hannibal runs two hours and eleven minutes. It starts with an FBI agent in disgrace and a famous cannibal living quietly in Florence as a library curator, and neither of them is having a normal year.
The premise, briefly
Ten years after Hannibal Lecter escaped, a raid goes wrong and Clarice Starling takes the blame, which pulls Lecter out of hiding and puts a rich, vengeful man on his trail.
How much do you want to know?
🐱
The verdict above is spoiler-free. Everything below, including the ending, stays hidden until you pick a depth.
🐱CUT TO THE CHASE
How it ends
Verger is eaten by his own hogs, Pazzi dies at Lecter's hands, and Krendler is fed part of his own brain. Starling handcuffs herself to Lecter, then walks out to the police with both hands intact, and Lecter escapes on a flight.
The scene you're dreading
Near the end, at a dinner Lecter cooks, he opens Krendler's skull, sautés part of his brain and feeds it to him while Starling watches. She is horrified and attacks Lecter.
The dog
No dog dies. A dog appears and is frightened, but it is not killed.
It is a graphic thriller with some jump scares, and knowing that Starling survives does not make the dinner scene any easier to watch.
THE SHORT VERSION IS HIDDEN
How it ends, the scene you're dreading, what happens to the dog, and the bottom line. About twenty seconds to read.
What actually happens
A raid that went wrong, and a rich man with a grudge
Ten years after Jame Gumb died and Hannibal Lecter escaped, FBI Special Agent Clarice Starling is blamed for a drug raid that goes badly and leaves five people dead. The mess gets the attention of Mason Verger, a wealthy man who is Lecter's only surviving victim. Lecter left him paralyzed and disfigured, and Verger has spent years planning to torture and kill him. Verger uses his money and political connections to have Starling put on Lecter's case, hoping she will draw Lecter out. Paul Krendler, a corrupt Justice Department official, helps him. Krendler is annoyed that Starling would not sleep with him.
Lecter hears about Starling's disgrace and writes her a letter. His hiding place is Florence, where he passes as a library curator called Dr. Fell. A perfume expert traces the scent on the letter to a skin cream sold in only a few shops. Krendler makes another pass at Starling and suggests he can help her career, and she says no again. In Florence, a policeman named Rinaldo Pazzi asks Lecter what happened to the last Dr. Fell. When Starling asks Pazzi for security footage from a fragrance shop, he realizes who Dr. Fell is. Pazzi wants Verger's three-million-dollar reward, so he offers to help Verger's men grab Lecter and keeps the police out of it. Lecter overpowers him first and makes him confess. Then Lecter guts Pazzi and leaves him hanging from a balcony of the Palazzo Vecchio.
Boars with a very specific diet
Verger pays off Krendler, who makes it look like Starling hid evidence against Lecter, and she is suspended. Lecter summons her to Washington Union Station and urges her to quit the FBI. Verger's men follow Starling and capture him. Starling sneaks into Verger's estate and learns that Verger plans to throw Lecter to a pack of giant hogs bred for the purpose, while he is still alive. She frees Lecter from the pen, but a guard shoots her. Lecter picks up the wounded Starling and stands still while the boars eat the bleeding guards. Verger tells his doctor, Cordell, to shoot Lecter. Lecter says that if Cordell kills Verger instead, he will take the blame. Cordell dislikes Verger, so he pushes him into the pen, and the boars eat him alive. Lecter carries the unconscious Starling out.
Dinner is served
This is the scene people dread most, and it comes near the end. Starling wakes up at Krendler's house in a cocktail dress she doesn't recognize. Lecter has sedated both of them, but she still manages to call the police. She finds Lecter preparing an elegant dinner, and Krendler spends the meal insulting her and then Lecter's cooking. Lecter opens Krendler's skull, takes out a piece of his brain, fries it in a pan and serves it to him. Lecter thinks this will impress Starling by punishing the man who has been treating her badly. She is horrified and attacks him, and he overpowers her and kisses her. She then cuffs her wrist to his.
The ending, explained
When Starling hears the police outside, Lecter raises a cleaver over her wrist, and it looks like he means to cut it off. The film cuts away, and the next shot shows Starling walking out to meet the police with both hands intact. Lecter turns up on a flight with his arm in a sling and shares a bit of Krendler's brain with a curious boy, telling him it is important to try new things. Verger was eaten by the boars and Pazzi was killed by Lecter earlier. Starling is free, and Lecter has escaped.
The post-credits ruling
There is no post-credits scene. You can leave when the credits start.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: fine, no dog dies.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is Hannibal scary?
Yes, Hannibal is a 6 out of 10, and the dread lasts about a night. It has some jump scares and several very graphic scenes.
How does Hannibal end?
Lecter feeds Krendler part of his own brain, Starling handcuffs herself to Lecter, and the film cuts away before the cleaver comes down. She walks out intact, and Lecter escapes on a flight.
Does the dog die in Hannibal?
No dog dies in Hannibal. A dog is frightened in one scene but it is not killed. A dead pigeon is also shown.
Is there a post-credits scene in Hannibal?
No. Hannibal has no post-credits scene, so you can leave when the credits start.
Who is Mason Verger in Hannibal?
Mason Verger is a wealthy man who is Lecter's only surviving victim. In Hannibal he is paralyzed and disfigured, and he plans to have giant hogs eat Lecter while he is alive.
BLURRED FOR YOUR PROTECTION
The whole plot of Hannibal is hidden, ending included. It stays that way until you ask.
You don't have to spend two hours and eleven minutes with Lecter to know what happens in Hannibal. Install Scaredy Cat and it blurs horror before you see it.
