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H Is for Hawk

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H Is for Hawk

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• Drama
• Adventure

• 2025
• Philippa Lowthorpe
• 115 mins
• 12A

Summary

After losing her beloved father, Helen finds herself saved by an unlikely friendship with a stubborn hawk named Mabel. Drama, starring Claire Foy, Brendan Gleeson and Denise Gough. Based on the best-selling book by Helen Macdonald

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Review

A star rating of 3 out of 5.

James Mottram

A grieving academic finds renewed hope as she befriends a bird of prey in this tender, if slight, true-life tale. Claire Foy is Helen, a graduate fellow at Cambridge left emotionally wrecked when her father (Brendan Gleeson) passes away. In memory of their time birding together, she buys a goshawk, Mabel, in the hope that she can train it. With the majestic bird perched in her living room, an unlikely bond forms between the two, while others worry that Helen is losing her grip. Adapting Helen Macdonald's memoir, director/co-writer Philippa Lowthorpe crafts a unique story led by a fearless Foy, who handles a real goshawk in impressively realistic scenes. The third act does meander, which means that this quiet study of a father-daughter bond and the grieving process struggles to fully take flight. However, the often underrated Sam Spruell brings warmth to his turn as a fellow avian enthusiast, while Foy's flashback scenes with Gleeson sketch out further emotional terrain in deft strokes.

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6.6/10

How to watch

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Streaming

• Netflix
• Sky Store

Credits

Cast

rolenameHelen MacdonaldClaire FoyAlisdair MacdonaldBrendan GleesonStuartSam SpruellJamesJosh DylanYoung HelenEden Hamilton

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Crew

rolenameDirectorPhilippa Lowthorpe

Details

Theatrical distributor

Lionsgate

Released on

2026-01-23

Languages

English

Guidance

Swearing, sexual references, drug abuse

Formats

Colour

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