In 1996, a young Cletus Kasady watches helplessly as his lover, Frances Barrison, is taken away from St. Estes Home for Unwanted Children to the Ravencroft Institute. On the way, Frances uses her sonic scream powers to attack young police officer Patrick Mulligan. Mulligan shoots Frances in the eye and suffers an injury to his ear due to her scream. Unbeknownst to Mulligan, who believes he killed her, Frances is still taken to Ravencroft, where her abilities are restricted.
In the present day, Mulligan is now a detective and asks journalist Eddie Brock to speak to serial killer Cletus in San Quentin State Prison, as Cletus refuses to talk to anyone other than Eddie. After the visit, Eddie’s alien symbiote Venom deduces where Cletus has hidden the bodies of his victims, which gives Eddie a considerable career boost. Eddie is contacted by his ex-fiancée Anne Weying, who tells him that she is now engaged to Dr. Dan Lewis, to Venom’s displeasure. Cletus, who has been found guilty of his crimes and sentenced to death by lethal injection, invites Eddie to attend his execution. Eddie speaks with Cletus, who insults Eddie, provoking Venom to attack Cletus. Cletus bites Eddie’s hand and ingests a small part of the symbiote. Back home, Venom has an argument with Eddie about wanting more freedom to eat criminals, and the symbiote decides to leave Eddie’s body and go off on its own.
Starring: Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Naomie Harris, Reid Scott, Stephen Graham, Woody Harrelson,
