Rating: PG-13 | Runtime: 114 minutes
Release Date: January 23rd, 2026 (UK/USA)
Studio: Lionsgate / Roadside Attractions
Director(s): Philippa Lowthorpe
Writer(s): Emma Donoghue & Philippa Lowthorpe / Helen MacDonald (memoir)

I’ve been desperately trying not to forget.

Helen (Claire Foy) isn’t handling the sudden death of her father well. So, she decides to get a Goshawk. An unaffectionate pet is probably not the best choice to fill the void, but Helen isn’t necessarily looking to replace the man who raised her as much as understand his absence. As she states during a catastrophic lecture, mankind has become adept at hiding from death. Raising Mabel and accompanying her hunts are thus a way to remind her that death is essential.

Adapted from Helen MacDonald’s memoir, H Is for Hawk takes a winding road to that crucial piece of insight without really using it to reveal any grand epiphanies beyond the reality that people get depressed when loved ones die and often cope in eccentric ways. Helen also falls prey to common ones (neglecting her career, wellbeing, and sanity), so the film is as much about her living vicariously through the hawk as her friends and family trying to coax her from the malaise.

Foy is great in the lead role and the footage of Mabel on the hunt is invigorating. The flashbacks to Brendan Gleeson as her late father are heartbreaking in the fact that the memories are always so delightful and it’s never not funny to see people’s fascination and fear when confronted by the hawk in public. The whole ultimately comes down to wishing we had hoods to blind our senses from reality like Mabel, but our brains sadly don’t grant the same luxury.

H Is for Hawk had an Oscars-qualifying run on December 19th, 2025.

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Claire Foy in H IS FOR HAWK; courtesy of Roadside Attractions.