A spinoff series to an acclaimed 1990s thriller has found a new streaming home in the UK.
Clarice, starring Rebecca Breeds as the eponymous FBI agent played by Jodie Foster in The Silence of the Lambs, has now been added to Prime Video in the UK.
Created by Alex Kurtzman and Jenny Lumet, the series is inspired by the 1988 novel The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris and set between the events of the 1991 movie of the same name by Jonathan Demme and its sequel, 2001’s Hannibal.
Clarice premiered in February 2021 and only ran for one season. Breeds is joined by Lucca De Oliveira, Devyn A Tyler, Kal Penn, Nick Sandow, Michael Cudlitz, and Marnee Carpenter.
The short-lived series received mixed reviews, currently sitting at a critics’ score of 42% on Rotten Tomatoes.
CBS Photo Archive//Getty Images
Related: Best streaming services
Critics are divided about Clarice, with IGN Movies praising the sequel series as “creepy, suspenseful, and well-executed,” and USA Today slamming it as “a cheap knockoff that squanders its source material”.
Some were confused by the show confining a charismatic character like Clarice to the specific constraints of police procedurals.
“These heavy themes seem to butt heads with the construct of a CBS procedural and end up being played out fairly chunkily,” The Mary Sue wrote.
San Francisco Chronicle echoed the sentiment, writing: “In a television landscape littered with gruesome procedurals and compelling female protagonists, Clarice feels less like a trailblazer and more like a three-decades-later attempt to catch up.”
Getty Images
Viewers on IMDb were equally divided about Clarice, with fan reviews ranging from “enjoyable” and with “potential” to “boring” and “underwhelming”.
The original The Silence of the Lambs movie starred Anthony Hopkins in the role of imprisoned cannibalistic serial killer and psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter, who helps Clarice Starling (Foster) in her investigation into murdered Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine).
The 1991 movie remains the only horror to have won Best Picture at the Oscars — though this may soon change if Ryan Coogler’s Sinners goes home with the coveted award.
Clarice is streaming on Prime Video in the UK.
The new edition of Living Legends, celebrating music icon Dolly Parton, is here! Buy Dolly at 80 in newsagents or online, priced at just £8.99.
Reporter, Digital Spy
Stefania is a freelance writer specialising in TV and movies. After graduating from City University, London, she covered LGBTQ+ news and pursued a career in entertainment journalism, with her work appearing in outlets including Little White Lies, The Skinny, Radio Times and Digital Spy.
Her beats are horror films and period dramas, especially if fronted by queer women. She can argue why Scream is the best slasher in four languages (and a half).