Movie Review: ‘H Is For Hawk’

Based on a true story, the eloquent ‘H Is For Hawk’ finds a shattered woman dealing with grief through an unexpected relationship with nature itself.

Claire Foy in 'H Is for Hawk'. Photo: Courtesy of Roadside Attractions.

Opening in theaters on January 23rd is the new biographical drama ‘H Is for Hawk’, directed by Philippa Lowthorpe and starring Claire Foy, Denise Gough, Lindsay Duncan, and Oscar nominee Brendan Gleeson.

Initial Thoughts

Claire Foy in 'H Is for Hawk'. Photo: Courtesy of Roadside Attractions.

Based on a memoir of the same name by Helen Macdonald, ‘H Is For Hawk’ tells the story of a woman whose devastating grief over the death of her father is channeled through her training of a goshawk, a predatory bird that’s notoriously difficult to wrangle – with the bird becoming a metaphor for the woman’s own struggles with anguish and depression.

While the film has simplified the book's narrative, ‘H Is For Hawk’ is both unsentimental and moving as it charts a journey that takes Helen down some dark paths. Claire Foy (‘The Crown’) is excellent in the lead role, and her interactions with her hawk, named Mabel (and played by two real-life Goshawks), are the most captivating sequences in a quietly powerful story of finding oneself again.

Story and Direction

Philippa Lowthorpe behind the scenes of 'H Is for Hawk'. Photo: Courtesy of Roadside Attractions.

Helen Macdonald is a research scholar and teacher at Cambridge’s Jesus College who's shattered by the news that her beloved father – renowned photojournalist Alisdair Macdonald (Brendan Gleeson, ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’) – has suddenly passed away. Endlessly curious about the world and always seeking knowledge, Helen’s dad has been a guiding light for her. Trying to contain her grief, Helen decides to again take up falconry – which she practiced for years when she was younger – and train one of the most difficult birds to master, a European Goshawk.

After purchasing a Goshawk from a Scottish breeder, Helen devotes all of her time and life to training the bird, which she names Mabel. Their relationship is difficult at first, but even as she successfully earns the hawk’s trust and trains it, Helen’s own life falls into deep disrepair: she grows distant from her family and friends, her house – which she's expected to leave when her current term with Cambridge ends – becomes unkempt and untidy, and she ignores her work and even the writing of a eulogy for her father’s memorial service.

'H Is for Hawk' director Philippa Lowthorpe.

With a screenplay co-written by director Philippa Lowthorpe and novelist Emma Donoghue (‘Room’), ‘H Is For Hawk’ focuses on the central narrative of Macdonald and Mabel while stripping out elements like a biographical look at author T.H. White’s own Goshawk experience as well as Macdonald’s insights into nature. Some of the latter is retained through the sequences of Helen and Mabel getting to know each other and the bird’s first attempts at hunting and flying – which are fascinating in their own right and directed by Lowthorpe with a kind of restrained mystery and grandeur (not to mention gorgeous work from cinematographer Charlotte Bruus Christensen).

Those scenes are part of the larger narrative of Helen’s grappling with not just her loss but her own sense of identity and self-worth in the wake of her father's passing. Her bond with Mabel leads her to become more feral herself, threatening to overwhelm the rest of her life. Her eventual reclamation is not overly melodramatic, and if anything, the film’s final scenes resolve the protagonist’s main conflict perhaps a little too quickly. But at the same time, ‘H Is For Hawk’ is a deeply affecting look at the texture of grief and memory, the mystery of nature, and the finality of death itself.

Cast and Performances

(L to R) Claire Foy and Brendan Gleeson in 'H Is for Hawk'. Photo: Courtesy of Roadside Attractions.

Best known for playing the young Queen Elizabeth II in ‘The Crown,’ Claire Foy is excellent here as the headstrong, initially outgoing Helen (the real person is non-binary, while the film's Helen uses ‘she/her’), portraying both the character’s strength and vulnerability with subtlety and empathy. She’s extraordinary in her interaction with the two birds playing Mabel, who themselves are a fantastic presence onscreen. Foy is wholly believable as a person who is experienced with falconry yet is relearning it through one of its most difficult subjects, projecting both confidence and anxiety.

The supporting cast – including the Mabels – is noteworthy as well, with living legend Brendan Gleeson providing Alisdair with a twinkle in the eye, plenty of good humor, and a rich sense of openness to the world around him in his too-brief flashback scenes. Denise Gough is strong and sensitive as well, as Helen’s best friend Christina, and Lindsay Duncan effectively portrays both the sadness and growing concern of Helen’s mum.

Final Thoughts

Brendan Gleeson in 'H Is for Hawk'. Photo: Courtesy of Roadside Attractions.

Gently told even in its scenes of the Goshawk hunting and Helen at one point sleeping on the floor of her filthy home like an animal herself, ‘H Is For Hawk’ is a captivating film that draws you in with Foy and Gleeson’s remarkably humane performances and the arresting presence of Mabel herself, whose indifferent face mirrors the unemotional state that Helen craves but cannot truly achieve.

As an adaptation of a book that relies heavily on interior monologue and exposition, ‘H Is For Hawk’ may not completely capture the source material’s complexity. But as a look at the power of love and memory -- and the denial of sorrow when the former is taken away and leaves only the latter -- the film truly takes flight.

‘H Is For Hawk’ receives a score of 85 out of 100.

(L to R) Lindsay Duncan and Claire Foy in 'H Is for Hawk'. Photo: Courtesy of Roadside Attractions.

What is the plot of ‘H Is for Hawk’?

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