Lowthorpe adapts popular memoir ‘H Is for Hawk’

Cinema | February 4th, 2026

By Greg Carlson

A little more than a decade following the publication of the popular Helen Macdonald memoir upon which it is based, a feature film version of “H Is for Hawk” starring Claire Foy has been theatrically released in the United States following a 2025 world premiere at Telluride. Directed by Philippa Lowthorpe from a screenplay she co-wrote with “Room” novelist Emma Donoghue in collaboration with Macdonald, the movie joins the class of thoughtful narratives focused on grief and grieving. Macdonald’s rather unconventional decision to adopt and train a goshawk after the death of their father provides the principal story arc on both page and screen. Lowthorpe handles the understated and occasionally subdued emotional peaks and valleys with a steady hand.

As a cinematic experience, nobody will mistake “H Is for Hawk” for “Hamnet,” Chloé Zhao’s much more robust, complex and visually resplendent exploration of the impact made on the living by the death of a loved one. The loss of a parent versus the loss of a child cannot, of course, be precisely equated, which unbalances the equitability of the comparison. Even so, the primary strength in Lowthorpe’s movie is located in the evolving relationship between Foy’s Macdonald and the magnificent raptor named Mabel. Together, person and bird form a formidable team, their bond a tribute to Helen’s late father Alisdair (Brendan Gleeson), the well-known photojournalist and newspaperman who regularly took pictures of the Beatles.

Anytime Helen and Mabel go to work together, “H Is For Hawk” soars to its most satisfying heights (pun intended). Less convincing in the film than on the page, however, are quotidian expressions of Helen’s behaviors in daily tasks while struggling mightily to process the gaping void left by their dad’s sudden departure. Though no fault of Foy, who navigates these choppy waters with believability, the movie stumbles through multiple reiterations of Helen’s mental numbness. Close friend Christina (Denise Gough, so brilliant recently as Dedra Meero on “Andor”) supports Helen even when hygiene and housekeeping are casualties.

Any movie that explores a connection between a human and a bird of prey will inevitably be measured (fairly or not) against Ken Loach’s 1969 masterpiece “Kes.” Like Lowthorpe’s film, “Kes” was also based on a book, but the scope of Loach’s formidable ambitions as embodied in the filmmaker’s fierce critique of a cruel and inequitable education system exists on an entirely different level than the prestige and privilege affiliated with Macdonald’s teaching and research at Cambridge. The art of falconry serves both movies as the key metaphor that, among other things, visualizes transcendence.

The possibility of “H Is for Hawk” sending interested viewers in search of “Kes” would be a win. And some of that credit would belong to veteran Danish cinematographer Charlotte Bruus Christensen and wildlife image-maker Mark Payne-Gill. With expertise and assistance provided by falconers Lloyd and Rose Buck, the superb images of Mabel (played by several avian performers) in flight are undoubtedly the strongest endorsement for a screening of Lowthorpe’s film. One sequence in particular, an up-close look at the goshawk’s first extended hunt in the woods, is well worth the price of admission.

Reach HPR film critic Greg Carlson at gregcarlson1@gmail.com.

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