Movie: H is for Hawk
Directed by: Phillipa Lowthorpe
Starring: Claire Foy, Brendan Gleeson, Denise Gough, Sam Spruell, and Lindsay Duncan
Review by: Kirk Dulin
Review Type: SPOILER FREE

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SYNOPSIS:

Helen (Claire Foy) suffers the unexpected loss of her dear father (Brendan Gleeson). She quickly finds herself grieving by adopting and training a hawk (…a goshawk). 

If you would’ve told me that I would cry about a movie with the above synopsis, I would’ve never spoken to you again. When I caught myself with a racing pulse, loss of breath control, and checking my peripheral to make sure no one saw me weeping, I started laughing in between the overwhelming emotional connection I had with Claire Foy’s character. 

Helen loses her father, and, like many families, quickly becomes a victim to her own grieving process. Her grief leads her to finding an avian companion within days, and sets her on a journey of both isolation and honest self reflection. Through her training sessions of the hawk, Helen ebbs and flows through the highs and lows of what she can and cannot control, and a bond she yearns for, but can’t predict or force. It’s a beautiful illustration of experiencing loss and finding a path forward.

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C is for Claire Foy

Queen Claire Foy – aka Queen Elizabeth in the Crown – made a big impact with her debut role. She has consistently delivered powerhouse performances in movies you may have missed OR forgot:

• Breathe (2017)
• Unsane (2018)
• First Man (2018)
• Women Talking (2022)
• All of Us Strangers (2023)

So how does she win the audience here? She ACTUALLY trains this on screen hawk. No CGI. No creative camera tricks (like when an actor plays piano, but doesn’t know how to play piano). Foy is handling this live bird in real time. 

We witness the full range of this. From Foy’s first training with the Hawk, which she names Mabel. The hawk is WILD, violently flapping its wings and whipping Foy’s hair into her face multiple times. We follow Mabel’s tense hunger strike while she adopts to her new owner’s home. And we rejoice when the first hunt is completed, and Mabel returns to Foy instead of flying off into the sunset to live its own life.

The challenge of this casting MUST have been selling it to the actor who would actually wear the falconry glove and handle this live animal. Foy accepted the challenge, and passes with flying colors. As she raises this goshawk, we find her metaphorical connection or raising a child like she was raised by her father AND the meta connection between animal and actor. A stunning feat.

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Q is for Quiet Surprises

I’m pro “big acting moments”: 

• Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise in A Few Good Men (1992)
• Viola Davis in Fences (2016)
• Leonardo DiCaprio in…anything (1979 – present)

Big acting moments aren’t always something we need, or preferred. The entire tone of H is for Hawk is filled with quiet, real life conversations between family members, friends, and co-workers. Director Phillipa Lowthorpe captures connections between characters through inside jokes, uncontrollable sibling laughter, and selfless support from a best friend, without a word being spoken. It’s these small moments that cut through in such a precise way. The more specific the choice is from the script, actors, and director, the bigger emotional impact is landed. 

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O is for Oscar Snubs

In a very competitive year of film, H is for Hawk will sadly not receive any Oscar Nominations. I spoke of a similar situation in recent years for Daddio (2023). Although these types of movies are rarely showcased in front of a global audience, they are still usually powerful enough to reach the right audience. My hope is that this review reaches the right audience, and it becomes a standard recommendation for you to pass along to your friends, family, and strangers.

Score: 7.9/10 kernels

Review by: Kirk Dulin

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H IS FOR HAWK releases to theatres on January 23, 2026.

Film Production Credits: