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Searching the Psyche Through Cinema: 'The Silence of the Lambs'

The 2026 Searching the Psyche Through Cinema film series explores the world of horror, inviting us to confront our deepest fears. The series wraps up with a screening and discussion of the 1991 film The Silence of the Lambs (R, 118 minutes).

The appeal of director Jonathan Demme’s work, writes a critic on RogerEbert.com, “is likely to last as long as there is a market for being scared … fear is a universal emotion and a timeless one.”

Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster), a top student at the FBI training academy, seeks out psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), who’s serving life behind bars for murder and cannibalism. They develop a strange and strained relationship in a search for a serial killer.

A post-screening discussion is led by GKCPI president and UMKC law professor Karl Menninger and animator and filmmaker Kaylea Halstead.

© Orion Pictures

This event is co-sponsored by: the Greater Kansas City and Topeka Psychoanalytic Center

This program is intended for individuals 18 years and older.


If you need ADA accommodation to use Library services or attend Library events and programs, please notify us at least 3 business days in advance at 816.701.3409 or ADA@kclibrary.org. (TTY access available via 711 or 866.520.7309 for Spanish.)

The Kansas City Public Library could be videotaping and taking photos for possible inclusion in marketing and promotional communications.

Upcoming in this series:
1
Feb

Searching the Psyche Through Cinema: 'A Girl Walks...

Plaza Branch | 2:00pm
15
Feb

Searching the Psyche Through Cinema: 'Get Out'

Plaza Branch | 2:00pm
Watch or Listen to Past Events in this Series:
featured movie cover along with screaming girl

Searching the Psyche Through Cinema: 'The Silence of the Lambs'

Date & Location
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Truman Forum Auditorium
In Person