Austin Film Festival 2025 Review:
"H is for Hawk"
Grief can manifest itself in many ways. In H is for Hawk, an adaptation of the 2014 memoir by Helen Macdonald, the anguish of losing a loved one is embodied by the Eurasian goshawk that the British naturalist acquired and trained soon after the unexpected passing of her father, press photographer Alisdair Macdonald. “He’d definitely be against any kind of moping,” says Helen early in this sincere and measured study in grief by veteran TV director Philippa Lowthorpe. But Helen—portrayed by The Crown’s Claire Foy—cannot move past the death of her father, and she gradually descends into unhealthy grieving. This is in part to devoting all her time and effort into training Mabel, a goshawk, “the wildest and maddest of raptors,” as described by a fellow falconer. Mabel’s presence in Helen’s life initially provides her with a strong connection to Alisdair—they spent many hours together in the woods watching birds of prey. But the comfort Mabel is supposed to give Helen turns to frustration when training proves to be harder than expected. This also gives Helen an excuse not to work on her emotional and psychological well-being. Under Lowthorpe’s assured direction, H is for Hawk is an intimate and potent examination of the harmful short-term and long-term ramifications of avoidance coping. Foy effectively channels Helen’s grief into Mabel, resulting in a gradual downward spiral that Foy depicts with quiet empathy. Her unwillingness to confront her grief, and the toll it takes on her and the friends and colleagues who try to support her, stands in contrast to the flashbacks featuring Helen and Alisdair, who is played with affable charm by Brendan Gleeson. Foy and Gleeson find such a closeness between daughter and father that it makes Helen’s grief all the more palpable. Mabel, of course, is there to fill the void in Helen’s life. And H is for Hawk is always at the most compelling when Lowthorpe—who co-wrote the script with Room author/screenwriter Emma Donoghue—focuses on the relationship between Helen and Mabel. Lowthorpe approaches Helen’s training of Mabel, and their subsequent bonding, with care, patience, and authority. And, to the untrained eye, Foy’s handling of Mabel comes across as authentic and based on earned trust and respect. If Mabel initially gives Helen a reason not to cope with grief and trust, she eventually gives her a reason to work on herself. H is for Hawk’s lesson is an obvious one: grief for the dead, live for the living (oddly, Helen’s mother is alive and well in the film, but Helen seems uninterested in her for some reason). If it means adopting an unconventional approach to coming to terms with the passing of a love one, such as adopting a hawk, so be it. Aired: Posted Nov. 3, 2025. Web site: https://austinfilmfestival.com/ |
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