H Is for Hawk

2025

Action / Drama

12
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 74% · 98 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 74% · 100 ratings
IMDb Rating 6.5/10 10 1473 1.5K

loss of loved one cambridge grief based on memoir or autobiography hawk falconry

Plot summary

After losing her beloved father, Helen finds herself saved by an unlikely friendship with a stubborn hawk named Mabel. Through the bond, Helen rediscovers the beauty of being alive.

Director

Philippa Lowthorpe Photo
Philippa Lowthorpe

Top cast

Brendan Gleeson Photo
Brendan Gleeson as Dad
Naomi Wirthner Photo
Naomi Wirthner as GP
Sam Spruell Photo
Sam Spruell as Stuart
Claire Foy Photo
Claire Foy as Helen
720p.BluRay 720p.WEB 1080p.BluRay 1080p.WEB 1080p.WEB
1.03 GB
1200*720
English 2.0
PG-13
Subtitles us  
25 fps
1 hr 54 min
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1.07 GB
1280*768
English 2.0
PG-13
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23.976 fps
1 hr 59 min
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2.12 GB
1800*1080
English 5.1
PG-13
Subtitles us  
25 fps
1 hr 54 min
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2.2 GB
1800*1080
English 5.1
PG-13
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 59 min
Seeds 50
1.99 GB
1800*1080
English 5.1
PG-13
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 59 min
Seeds 37

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by CinemaSerf 7 / 10

Academic “Helen” (Claire Foy) is close to her

Academic “Helen” (Claire Foy) is close to her photo journalist dad (Brendan Gleeson) and so is deeply affected when he quite suddenly dies. She tries to be around for her mum (Lindsay Duncan) and brother “James” (Josh Dylan) but with her tenure at her university (and therefore the lease on her home) coming to an end she seems devoid of much purpose. One thing she had shared with her father shortly before he died was watching some hawks darting about in the sky, and this inspires her to try her hand at falconry. After chatting with her experienced friend “Stuart” (Sam Spruell) she alights on a goshawk - the most aggressive of all. Despite the reservations of her best pal “Christina” (Denise Gough) they drive to Stranraer to pick up a fully licensed young bird. It’s a lively animal whom she names “Mabel” and what now ensues sees he become more and more attached to a bird that gradually starts to reciprocate - well, within reason. “Helen” becomes obsessed with her bird, and though she pays lip service to her work she really only cares about “Mabel” as she learns to feed and then to hunt. Grief is a topic that plenty of films have had a go at exposing over the years, but rarely in quite such an effective fashion. The fact that “Helen” is so closely identifying with her bird, at the expense of just about everything else including her job, her family, friendships and even her hygiene is delicately played out here. There is a clear dependency developing here that slowly, but surely, shifts in emphasis. As “Mabel” grows in confidence, it also gives the cinematographer an opportunity to present us with some beautifully photographed action as this nimble and lithe creature chases it’s prey through trees, tall grass and hedgerows without ever losing sight of lunch. There’s not a great deal of dialogue to concern us which allows us to focus more on Foy’s personable performance crafting a character that has no idea how to grieve. The goshawk is the star though, no doubt about it.
Reviewed by ferguson-6 6 / 10

grieving

Greetings again from the darkness. Some losses hit hard. When Helen's dad dies suddenly and unexpectedly, her downward spiral begins. Writer-director Philippa Lowthorpe and co-writer Emma Donaghue have adapted Helen MacDonald's 2014 book/memoir for a screen version that moves about as slowly as any movie I've ever seen. That's allowed when depression is taking hold (of Helen, not me).Claire Foy (THE GIRL IN THE SPIDER'S WEB, 2018) stars as Helen. She's a natural science academic at Cambridge and has a close relationship with her photojournalist dad (the always great Brendan Gleeson). His death leads her to training a beautiful goshawk she names Mabel. Helen is patient with the bird and spends an inordinate amount of time with the magnificent creature ... so much time, in fact, that it jeopardizes her job, her friendships, her family, and quite frankly, her sanity. But that all makes it sound much more exciting than it plays out on screen.Based on Helen's true story, the time period is 2007, yet we believe this emotional crash could happen to most anyone at any time. Her distraction (which she claims Mabel isn't) is a bit more worrisome than some, and as her mom (Lindsay Duncan), brother James (Josh Dylan), and best friend Christina (Denise Gough) fret over how best to help her, it turns out time and delivering her dad's eulogy are even more effective than training the hawk. As odd as it seems, this may be a textbook "finding yourself" story and film.Opening in theaters on January 23, 2026.
Reviewed by ethanbresnett 6 / 10

H is for how long are they going to drag this out for

H Is For Hawk is a funny old thing. The story itself isn't compelling enough to really make a truly engaging film, and the creative choices don't do a huge lot to help this.It follows a Cambridge professor Helen, who copes with the grief of losing her father by purchasing and training a goshawk. Unfortunately, I just don't think the emotion of the whole thing came across too strongly. Foy's performance was good, but not great. The story was a little ploddy and very one note. Grief manifests itself in many different ways, and since this is based on a true story I can't fault the angle it takes, but I'm not sure it translated to film well.There is some beautiful imagery though, and it does have it's occasional moments. However, for the most part the whole thing just feels a little slow and too ruminative.Perhaps certain people will find elements to relate to here, but there are much more impactful and powerful depictions of grief out there that are worth seeking out ahead of this.
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