Parents Guide for
The Silence of the Lambs (1991) More at IMDbPro »

Note: The number at the beginning of each section refers to how much explicit content of that kind there is in the film on a scale of 1-10. The fraction at the end of the last section is the total sum of the sections over the highest sum possible (50) and is therefore an approximation of about how explicit the film is a whole.

Sex & Nudity: 7

A man masturbates and throws semen at a woman, hitting her in the face. No explicit nudity is seen, but you see his body moving and you hear him panting.

A man in drag dances in front of a mirror with his genitals tucked between his legs.

A breast can briefly be seen on Buffalo Bill's woman suit.

Violence & Gore: 8

A postmortem is seen on a body that had had some of it's skin removed.

Another postmortem scene depicts a policeman crucified on a holding cell, there is a gaping bloody hole on his abdomen, it is strongly implied that his liver has been removed and eaten.

Lector bites a man's face and is then seen with his mouth covered in blood.

A man is beat to death with a baton, blood is seen spraying.

Several people are shot during the film.

A man cuts off another man's face(not shown) and wears his face as a mask in order to escape prison. He is seen removing the face from his face.

Cannibalism is a common theme.

Profanity: 7

23 F-words, 2 C-words, and several S and D-words.

Alcohol/Drugs/Smoking: 1

None from memory, perhaps a man smoking a cigar or a very mild reference.

Frightening/Intense Scenes: 7

Several intense scenes, including some cannibalism.

There is a gruesome autopsy scene and several images of women who have been skinned.

Homosexual people may find the film offensive.

A dog's leg is broken after a fall and a woman threatens to kill it.

The way Hannibal talks and the things he says can be quite disturbing for young children. "I ate his liver with some fava beans..."

An idea of how accurate the TECE (below) is: 5-10 is a little-kid suitable, G-Rated type of film (i.e. Care Bears, Sleeping Beauty); 10-15 is going to be a little harsher, but not by much (i.e. The Incredibles); 15-20 could be pretty high up there (i.e. Indiana Jones), 20-25 is going to pretty darn adult (i.e. The Dark Knight); 25-30 is going to be a film most likely not suitable for anyone under 17 (i.e. This); 30-40 is going to be an absolutely, positively adults-only film (i.e. Saving Private Ryan) and if a movie has ever gone past 40, then I haven't heard of it.

Total Explicit Content Estimation: 30/50.