Claire Foy stars as Helen MacDonald, a university lecturer and naturalist, living in Cambridge. She has a strong bond with her father, Alisdair (Brendan Gleeson), and when he dies suddenly, Helen struggles to process the event and looks for something to give her purpose. A long time admirer of birds of prey, she obtains a hawk, who she names Mabel.
I was expecting a straightforward narrative of a woman overcoming her grief via a unique friendship, but Emma Donaghue and director Phillippa Lowthorpe have crafted an adaptation of Helen’s book that is much more complex than that. She channels her feelings into looking after Mabel, but she becomes obsessed, neglecting her friends, family, work and even hygiene. Depression creeps up on her, but Helen is too absorbed in her bird to realise.
Foy is fantastic in portraying a character that I sometimes wanted to slap, but never stopped hoping would pull her life around. Gleeson appears mostly in flashback and makes it believable that his daughter adored him so much. Sam Spruell is also excellent as Helen’s old friend who also keeps birds.
There has been a tendency recently for scores to be intrusive and over bearing, with Johnny Greenwood’s music for One Battle After Another being a prime example. But Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch’s beautiful music here is sparingly used, complimenting the action rather than telling you what to feel. Charlotte Bruus Christensen’s cinematography is also impressive, particularly when Mabel is in flight and hunting.
It is only January, but I am sure that H is for Hawk will be one of the best British films of the year.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10