H Is for Hawk is a 2025 biographical drama film directed by Philippa Lowthorpe, who co-wrote the screenplay with Emma Donoghue, based on the 2014 memoir by naturalist Helen Macdonald. It stars Claire Foy, Brendan Gleeson, Denise Gough, Sam Spruell, and Lindsay Duncan. The film tells the true story of Helen Macdonald who tends to a goshawk after the death of their father Alisdair. The film received generally positive reviews from critics.
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Plot
H Is for Hawk chronicles Helen Macdonald’s experience of grief following the sudden death of her father and her decision to train a goshawk as a means of coping with that loss. The narrative interweaves two strands: Macdonald’s personal bereavement and the practical and psychological challenges of falconry.
After her father’s death, Macdonald retreats from her previous academic and social life and immerses in the demanding discipline of hawk training. She acquires a female goshawk, named Mabel, and devotes herself to the meticulous routines required to tame and hunt with the bird. The process is portrayed as both physically exhausting and emotionally consuming, drawing Macdonald into an intense, solitary relationship with the hawk and the wild instincts it embodies.
As Macdonald becomes increasingly absorbed in falconry, she describes a gradual withdrawal from ordinary human concerns, seeking refuge in the clarity and harshness of the natural world. This immersion brings moments of exhilaration and communion with nature, but also exposes the limits and dangers of attempting to escape grief by erasing one’s humanity.
While the book the movie is based on discusses Macdonald’s slow re-engagement with the human world, the film itself ends while she is still in a half-wild state. The director Phillipa Lowthorpe shows Macdonald up to the point at which she is going through a subtle shift where she stops trying to be a hawk and begins to inhabit her own skin again, even if she remains solitary still. The film focuses on the bruising realism of a person who has been changed by grief and nature, rather than a Hollywood-style return to normality.
Cast
Claire Foy as Helen Macdonald
Brendan Gleeson as Alisdair Macdonald, Helen's father
Sam Spruell as Stuart
Josh Dylan as James
Denise Gough as Christina
Emma Cunniffe as Mandy
Arty Froushan as Amar
Lindsay Duncan as Helen's mother
Production
The film was announced in February 2024, directed by Philippa Lowthorpe and written by Emma Donoghue. Based on H is for Hawk, the 2014 memoir by Helen Macdonald, it stars Claire Foy and Brendan Gleeson and has been developed with Film4, who executive produced and co-financed. The film was also produced by Plan B Entertainment, which had been attached to an adaptation of the book with Lena Headey in 2017. In November 2024, Lionsgate acquired UK and Irish distribution rights to the film from Protagonist Pictures.
Filming began in Cambridge in November 2024. Filming also took place in Wales and London.
In October 2025, Roadside Attractions acquired the North American distribution rights.
Release
The film had its premiere at the 52nd Telluride Film Festival. The film also screened at the London Film Festival.
The film was released in the United States by Roadside Attractions in December 2025 for a one-week "awards-qualifying run", which was followed by a wide release on 23 January 2026. Lionsgate also released the film in the United Kingdom on 23 January.
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 82% of 104 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.6/10. The website's consensus reads: "Pairing Claire Foy's psychologically raw performance with lush, evocative imagery, H Is for Hawk approaches its tale of grief and acceptance with bruising realism and thoughtful candor." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 63 out of 100, based on 24 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.
