H Is for Hawk
Helen (Claire Foy, "Women Talking"), a natural science academic at Cambridge University, begins her day watching two goshawks glide around each other in the sky, immediately calling her photojournalist dad (Brendan Gleeson, "The Banshees of Inisherin") to share the experience. Later, she'll receive the exciting news that she's been invited to apply for a position at the prestigious Max Planck Institute in Germany, but just as her good friend Christina (Denise Gough, TV's 'Andor') demands it be celebrated, Helen receives a devastating phone call from her mother (Lindsay Duncan, "Birdman") in 'H Is for Hawk."
Laura's Review: B
Cowriter (with "Room's" Emma Donoghue)/director Philippa Lowthorpe ("Misbehavior") adaptation of Helen MacDonald's memoir excels in its depiction of falconry, Foy a natural with the birds, and the profound sense of loss caused by Helen's dad's sudden death, Brendan Gleeson creating a lovable eccentric, a man with no formal education but vast and varied interests. Those two aspects of the film take flight, Helen and her dad's relationship revealed in flashback, but Helen's spiraling depression is the movie's main through line and Lowthorpe allows it to drag on too long before the sudden updraft of Helen picking herself up to deliver an extraordinary eulogy. The film loses our interest before regaining it by returning to the heart of the story - Helen's relationship with her dad.
Before that, though, we see a woman given to fits of giggles, something that besets both Helen and her brother James (Josh Dylan) when a funeral director, learning that their dad was interested in astronomy, photography, airplanes and nature, suggests a 'themed' coffin. Later, while driving her dad's car into Cambridge, she'll remember an incident in that car that set the two of them into giggles when her dad, exasperating her by pulling over while driving her to the train station, gets thrown out of a yellow-taped crime scene along with his camera. The fits continue as Helen and her boyfriend Amar (Arty Froushan, "Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale's" Noel Coward) cannot suppress their laughter during a solemn event at Cambridge, but Helen's downward spiral begins when she asks him to go with her to Germany, a request we may surmise is premature in this relationship as it brings about its end. This is the point where Helen visits falconry expert Stuart (Sam Spruell, Ole Murch in TV's 'Fargo') and his wife Mandy (Emma Cunniffe) declaring she 'needs' a goshawk, something Stuart tries and fails to discourage, describing the birds as a handful.
Helen's introduction to the bird will be fraught, the breeder showing her one feisty customer before telling her a second, very calm one, is the one she purchased, but Helen's already decided the first one is the one for her and pleads with the man to change his paperwork. We will then witness Helen's gradual acclimation of the hawk in her apartment turning to anxiety when it won't eat. Helen panics again when Christina arrives with coffee and croissants, plopping herself on the couch and turning on the TV comedy, but that seems to be just the type of commotion the bird needed and it eats for the first time. Only now does Helen name the bird - Mabel - which means 'lovable,' following her dad's old saying that 'the softer the name, the fiercer the bird.'
Helen now channels everything into Mabel, terrified the bird will fly away when unleashed, ecstatic when it returns. But she also shuts out the outside world, cutting her mother's phone calls short, not answering the door to Christina, forgetting important work related duties as well as her expiring apartment lease and letting hygiene fall by the wayside. It is only when she begins to go through her dad's photo archive in preparation for his memorial service, a treasure trove of such things as a helicopter shot of Ronnie Kray's funeral he risked his life to get, that she slowly begins to reengage, Christina offering to pack up her apartment while Helen writes. Unfortunately, this is where Lowthorpe also loses our interest, continuing to illustrate Helen's depressive social mishaps instead of barreling ahead building memories of dad towards her conclusion.
But Foy creates strong bonds with both Gleeson and Mabel (played by two hawks) and watching those parings are uplifting in different ways, Foy and Gleeson sharing a love of both life and the ridiculous, Foy and Mabel illustrating the wondrous sensation of connecting with a wild creature. "H Is for Hawk" doesn't always soar, but when it does it can be magical.
Robin's Review: B
Helen (Claire Foy) lost her dad (Brendan Gleeson) and is having a hard time coping with the grief. She rekindles a long-dormant fascination with hawking and adopts Mabel, a goshawk, to help her find solace in “H is for Hawk.”
Director Philippa Lowthorpe co-wrote, with Emma Donohue, this adaptation of Helen MacDonald’s 2014 memoir of the title and it begins with Dad and Helen having a phone call, talking about the hawks she has seen. Then, later, she gets a call from her mum (Lindsay Duncan) that her father has died of a sudden heart attack. His death causes Helen to descend into a deep funk of grief.
She remembers the thrill of being a falconer when younger and decides that training a Eurasian goshawk is the key to coping with her loss. She meets a man who sells hawks and falcons but decides she does not want the goshawk offered, but it is a take it or leave it proposition. She decides to take it and names her and names her new friend Mabel.
This is where we get the tutorial on the care and treatment of a bird of prey, the nuts and bolts of training said bird and the insight into the dedication between human and raptor. Personally, I found this fascinating but the film does tend to plod along as Helen copes with the loss of her Dad. The hawking stuff is very cool
Claire Foy gives an earnest performance as a woman who only realizes, after his death, just who the man her father was. Through many flashbacks of Helen and her dad, we learn a little about the man, except he was a dedicated photographer. It is only when she and her brother, James (Josh Dylan), go through his personal stuff that Helen really learns about him on a whole different level.
My first thought after dad is introduced in a single scene, then dies, was that I hope we come back to Brendan Gleeson. Fortunately, through the continued use of flashback, dad is fleshed out and proves to have led a larger life than his daughter thought. In his short amount of time on screen, Gleeson builds a fully formed person. Foy, though, is saddled with a two-note character that is not allowed to flesh out as well as dad.
A huge draw to “H is for Hawk” is the beautiful photography in the fields and woods as Helen trains Mabel not to hunt, but to come back to her. All of the scenes of Helen and Mabel, especially Mabel hunting, are beautifully shot, displaying the grace, beauty and flying control, through the woods and fields, of the hawk.
I am not sure that “H is for Hawk” will inspire legions to take on the “sport” but it has been around for thousands of years. The bond that develops between Helen and Mabel is palpable. The story is also about conquering grief and her dedication to Mabel – when Helen made the decision, she does not turn back, even though sometimes she should. And, Mabel is darn cool.
Roadside Attractions releases "H Is for Hawk" in theaters on 1/23/26.
