The Rising Hawk

In thirteenth-century Eastern Europe, the Mongol army advances westward under a khan named Burunda, subduing the lands it crosses. At the foot of the Carpathian Mountains, the invaders take prisoners, and a group of local hunters — including the sons of the village leader Zakhar Berkut — free them in a nighttime raid. The khan retaliates by targeting the mountain settlements, helped by a traitor who reveals a hidden route through the mountains. Zakhar and his people, together with fighters from neighbouring communities, prepare to make a stand.

The film is a Ukrainian-American co-production directed by Akhtem Seitablaiev and John Wynn, written by Rich Ronat and Yaroslav Voytseshek, and based on Ivan Franko's novella Zakhar Berkut. Robert Patrick plays Zakhar Berkut, with Alex MacNicoll as his son Maksym, Rocky Myers as Ivan, Tommy Flanagan as Tuhar Vovk, Poppy Drayton as Myroslava and Alina Kovalenko as Rosana. It followed Seitablaiev's Haytarma from 2013 and preceded his 2026 film GUR: Code "Sikora". Made for about 3 million dollars, it returned roughly 2 million at the worldwide box office.

Audience reception was modest: on IMDb it holds 5.8 out of 10 from around 5,000 votes, and on TMDB it also scores 5.8 from about 150 ratings.