H Is for Hawk (2025)

H Is For Hawk (2025) is based on Helen Macdonald’s 2014 memoir. It tells the story of the writer’s relationship with Mabel, a goshawk. Helen dedicates herself to the discipline of hawk training after the sudden death of her father, Alistair, a renowned British press photographer.  His iconic photographs are shown towards the end.

We enjoyed this quiet film. It was “gentle and slow-paced but it never dragged.”  Claire Foy, in the title role, perfectly conveyed the “tear-stained stillness” of someone battling grief. Events are revealed slowly and the viewer is kept at an emotional distance. Helen herself does have ADHD and we experience her own survival mechanism and detachment for dealing with loss.

It was this aspect that was very powerful for the discussion group. The film was “a portrait of depression.”  “You never know how you are going to deal with grief,” said one member. The theme of living with death is explored honestly, reflected in an excellent scene where she is confronted at a talk about animal cruelty and must justify keeping Mabel.

The film does have a strong sense of journey. We witness Helen broken and depressed, her home in a terrible mess, unable to operate properly and we see her beginning to spark back into life after her bereavement, when she gives a eulogy at her father’s funeral.

“This is Kes for adults,” said one member of the group. “A genius film,” said another. The shorts made us realise just how many common words and expressions – fed up…hoodwinked….wrapped round my little finger - are from falconry. The film takes you into a new world and is an education about how some can form a powerful relationship with a wild predator.

As Helen Macdonald herself said, “The world is full of beautiful and amazing things and just to know about them is an act of grace.”

Anne