I never watched this, because I don’t like serial killer movies. Mostly for subjective aesthetic reasons, but I think the whole genre has fucked up people’s beliefs about crime and policework and everything to a high degree, so also it’s probably objectively bad, so hey.

But anyway, this feels like it’s very much following the pattern of serial killer movies, subtype: the evil genius who has to help the cops to find the killer. This is my super-least-favorite type, because fuck evil genius antiheroes who have a “code of honor” in particular, ugh.

Beyond that, it’s notable that the movie partakes and contributes to society’s fucked up ideas about transgender people, so that’s also bad.

BEYOND ALL THAT, though, it was well done for what it is. Howard Shore’s soundtrack was evocative throughout, the camerawork and cinematography is atmospheric, and not just in the claustrophobic creepy moments.

The Hannibal character feels like a stereotype, but that’s obviously just because everyone’s been riffing on this performance for 30 years, like Marlon Brando in The Godfather. Presumably it resonated for people at the time, for better or worse.

Long story short, it’s a well-done and influential version of a bad thing, but maybe if they took out all the serial killers, it’d be a more interesting movie.