H Is for Hawk

2025

Drama

6
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Certified Fresh 80% · 95 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 77% · 50 ratings
IMDb Rating 6.8/10 10 671 671

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

Director

Philippa Lowthorpe Photo
Philippa Lowthorpe

Top cast

Brendan Gleeson Photo
Brendan Gleeson as Dad
Sam Spruell Photo
Sam Spruell as Stuart
Claire Foy Photo
Claire Foy as Helen
Katy Carmichael Photo
Katy Carmichael as Professor Campbell
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB
1.07 GB
1280*768
English 2.0
PG-13
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 59 min
Seeds ...
2.2 GB
1800*1080
English 5.1
PG-13
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 59 min
Seeds 100+

Movie Reviews

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.
Reviewed by GB65 7 / 10

Slow But Warm

Maybe it's because I'm getting older but I enjoyed the pace of this sweet, melodrama which deals with grief and bereavement. Played beautifully by Clare Foy, Helen is struggling with the sudden death of her father. Her therapy is a Goshawk which she buys to train. This therapy alone is not working and she retreats even more inside herself, shutting out friends and family and dedicating all of her time to Mabel. Work suffers, she nears eviction and needs help. Yes it's slow but to me it's a beautifully written and well-acted story.
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