The Hedgehog (2011)

88% of critics liked it
(66 reviews)
80% of users liked it
(4,176 ratings)

Inspired by the beloved New York Times bestseller, The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbery, The Hedgehog is the timely story of Paloma (Garance Le Guillermic) a young girl bent on ending it all on her upcoming twelfth birthday. Using her father's old camcorder to chronicle the hypocrisy she… More Inspired by the beloved New York Times bestseller, The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbery, The Hedgehog is the timely story of Paloma (Garance Le Guillermic) a young girl bent on ending it all on her upcoming twelfth birthday. Using her father's old camcorder to chronicle the hypocrisy she sees in adults, Paloma begins to learn about life from the grumpy building concierge, Renée Michel (Josiane Balasko). When Paloma's camera reveals the extensive secret library in Renée's back room, and that the often gruff matron reads Tolstoy to her cat, Paloma begins to understand that there are allies to be found beneath the prickliest of exteriors. As the unlikely friendship deepens, Paloma's own coming of age becomes a much less pessimistic prospect. -- (C) NeoClassics Films

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 40 min.
Directed By: Mona Achache
Written By: Mona Achache, Muriel Barbery
Genres: Drama, Art House & International, Comedy

In Theaters: Aug 19, 2011 Limited
On DVD: Jun 12, 2012
Studio: NeoClassics Films

Critic Reviews

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic
A satisfying emotional experience.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
This a movie with such a light, stylish touch, it makes no claims to profundity and is a sweetly hopeful experience.
Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post
"The Hedgehog" is a treat: a movie that's smart, grown-up, wry and deeply moving.
Mark Feeney, Boston Globe
Enchantment will go a long way toward overcoming implausibility, but there's not enough of the former here - and far too much of the latter.
G. Allen Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle
What does happen seems to happen in slow motion.
Tirdad Derakhshani, Philadelphia Inquirer
An enchanting grown-up fairy tale about the redemptive power of love.
Chris Foran, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
A French drama that finds its power in the little moments.
Marc Savlov, Austin Chronicle
Le Guillermic is fine in this calm comedy of subverted exteriors and expectations, but it's the remarkably unpretentious -- earthy, even -- Balasko who anchors Achache's adaptation.
Jim Lane, Sacramento News & Review
... it's Josiane Balasko that makes it work.
Calvin Wilson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
"The Hedgehog" sneaks up on you with its heartfelt storytelling and sophisticated wit.
Marc Mohan, Oregonian
Balasko's performance is the highlight, as she breathes believable inner life into the stock character of the lonely, embittered widow.
Brent Simon, Shockya.com
A darkly comedic broadside aimed at stuffy French elitism.
Anita Katz, San Francisco Examiner
Portrayed by Balasko with nuance, grace, intelligence and humor, Renee is a quietly terrific portrait of a deserving, dynamic woman who has long gone unnoticed.
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul), St. Paul Pioneer Press
With her film, Achache achieves a rare thing: She is faithful to the spirit of a terrific book but finds ways to make it come alive on film.
Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times
A reminder that, sometimes, the movies can get a beloved book exactly right.
David Parkinson, Radio Times
A charming performance by young Garance Le Guillermic proves key to the success of Mona Achache's adaptation of the popular Muriel Barbery novel The Elegance of the Hedgehog.
Philip French, Observer [UK]
It's a brisk, touching comedy with a deliberately shocking climax and attractive performances from Josiane Balasko and Togo Igawa as the two people who change Paloma's understanding of life.
James Verniere, Boston Herald
'Hedgehog' Bristles with French Charm
Tim Robey, Daily Telegraph
It's some feat for this gentle French drama to overcome the device of an impossibly precocious, camcorder-wielding 11-year-old narrator (Garance Le Guillermic), who has secret plans to commit suicide on her next birthday.

Read all 19 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Rubia Carolina .

"My parents are rich, my family is rich and my sister and I are basically rich. But, in spite of that, in spite of all this luck and wealth, for a long time now I've known I'm heading for the fishbowl. A world where adults bang like flies on the glass. But I know one… More
"My parents are rich, my family is rich and my sister and I are basically rich. But, in spite of that, in spite of all this luck and wealth, for a long time now I've known I'm heading for the fishbowl. A world where adults bang like flies on the glass. But I know one thing. The fishbowl isn't for me.". Paloma is a bright little girl that decides to commit suicide on her 12th birthday. Once the important is not how or when but what you're doing when you die, she decides to make a film to show how absurd life is. In the beginning she didn't convinced me, but now I remember of Le Diable Probablement and I can see some similarities between Bresson's character Charles and her: they don't have the "common" agnst or deep sadness that used related to suicidal people, but a feeling of certainty and, conequently, unadjustment. Mona Achache works up such a difficult subject with humour and sensitivity. The images of Paloma's film in contrast with the film itself are great and the drawings, adorable. I just didn't like the dramatic-expected fairytale/love tale. </br>