How is Suspense Achieved in ‘The Silence of the Lambs’?

The Silence of the Lambs took the Academy Awards by storm in 1992, winning all five major categories, direction, screenplay, acting and Best Motion Picture; beating the odds in more ways than one. Dark psychological thrillers rarely win Best Picture (the last occasion was back in 1940, Hitchcock’s ‘Rebecca’). The film had been released early in 1991, a date thought to be beyond the traditionally short memories of most Academy members. Why this happened is not hard …

…We are both repelled and attracted to Lecter and because of Clarice’s determination and vulnerability we feel her plight. She desperately needs his help, but at what cost to her own sanity? She is in a race against time to get inside a dangerous mind to save another mad man’s victim making her scenes with Lecter even more urgent. And urgency creates suspense when us, the audience care enough about the characters involved.