Parents' Guide to

Hannibal

By Joyce Slaton, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 16+

Graphic Hannibal Lecter retread is compelling and dark.

TV NBC Drama 2013
Hannibal Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.

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age 16+

Based on 27 parent reviews

mediocreplant
mediocreplant Adult
October 1, 2021
age 17+

It's.... a lot

The show and story line are very good, and very entertaining. The show is honestly really well done, however there's a lot of more mature themes of like psychological manipulation and stuff like that, which isn't too scary, but still could be disturbing for younger teens. The biggest deterrent for watching this show is definitely the magnitude and sheer amount of graphic gore. Like, they don't hide a n y t h i n g, and that's about all I can say without spoilers. This show made me go vegetarian for a bit and I cannot eat any kind of pork now. Anyway, 10/10 interesting plot. :)

This title has:

Too much violence
1 person found this helpful.
DjSan
DjSan Adult
April 4, 2020
age 18+

Disturbing Even for Adults

It is extremely well acted, very well scripted, masterfully well directed, and a decidedly disturbing look into the minds of serial killers and the individuals that are able to track them down. Definitely Not for children, or even teens. NC-17 for real. It shows how even being brave enough to put a stop to these killers, changes your life for the worse psychologically speaking. I say its NC-17 because some of these episodes literally gave me haunting nightmares for a few days after watching they are so gruesomely realistic and disturbing . I do not recommend binge watching this show because of the unsettling nature of the story. It also kind of depicts how serial killers seem to have this respect for each others work, like artists would. =/ **Recommend watching episodes in Small Doses.** As great and as brillant as it is, unfortunately, I had to stop watching it because of how it seeps nightmarish scenes into my dreams.

This title has:

Too much violence
1 person found this helpful.
See all 27 parent reviews

What's the Story?

In NBC's hour-long drama HANNIBAL, Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) is a professor and FBI criminal profiler who is drawn into a professional association with a man who is secretly a monster: Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen), a forensic psychologist who kills people and eats their body parts when he's on his own time. Special Agent Jack Crawford (Laurence Fishburne), head of behavioral sciences at the FBI, recruited both Graham and Lecter to work with him on his nastiest cases. He knew Graham, who skews both Aspergers-y and anti-social, was a rather strange guy. But what Crawford didn't know about Lecter could put them all in mortal danger.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (27):
Kids say (60):

By now, the details of Hannibal Lecter's story are familiar to most people, so Hannibal doesn't have freshness on its side. But showrunners did change one crucial detail, turning Graham from just another hardworking cop into an oddball with what Lecter diagnoses as "true empathy" thanks to his autistic tendencies. He understands the crimes he investigates because he can see things from the killers' point of view. And so does the audience, riding along with Graham as he "becomes" the killer and envisions how murders happened.

Dancy is terrific as the shifty-eyed Graham, Fishburne has his customary gravitas in what's most definitely a third banana part, and wonder of wonders, creepy Mads Mikkelsen, best known stateside as a Bond villain, is so good as Lecter he may make you forget Anthony Hopkins' indelible cinematic Dr. Lecter long enough to enjoy Hannibal-the-show. This is strong stuff, not for kids, but very mature teens and adults may enjoy the gore, darkness, tension, and mystery.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the source material for this show. Have you seen other movies involving the same set of characters, such as The Silence of the Lambs or Hannibal (the movie)? How is this show alike or different? Does the fact that it's on television change what's said or shown?

  • How are the viewers supposed to feel about Dr. Lecter? Listen to see what musical cues are used when he is shown onscreen, notice what camera angles are used. Did your answer change?

  • Why do so many shows on television focus on crime and murder? What does that say about what people want to watch? Why do they want to watch stories in which people are harmed?

TV Details

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