Paloma is a painfully precocious 11-year old. She is so acutely aware of the phoniness and shortcomings of her upper-middle class Parisian family, she wants to die on her birthday (lest she grow up like them) and is counting the days until turning 12 and embracing oblivion. Based on Muriel Barbery\'s international bestseller, The Hedgehog could be glum business, but sparkles instead under the light touch of French director Mona Achache. As she swipes her mother\'s anti-depressants in careful preparation for suicide and amasses philosophical rationalizations, Paloma meets the charming new tenant in her Art Nouveau apartment building, a dignified Japanese aesthete, and comes to know the building\'s surly charwoman, who has kept many secrets close to heart. The Hedgehog\'s conclusion isn\'t as predicable in Paris as it might have been in Hollywood.
The Hedgehog opens Oct. 28 at the Downer Theatre.
