The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

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The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

PG

2018

1h 39m

Kids & Family

Holiday

Fantasy

Adventure

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

32%

Tomatometer

203 Reviews

35%

Popcornmeter

2,500+ Ratings

Young Clara needs a magical, one-of-a-kind key to unlock a box that contains a priceless gift. A golden thread leads her to the coveted key, but it soon disappears into a strange and mysterious parallel world. In that world, she meets a soldier named Phillip, a group of mice and the regents who preside over three realms. Clara and Phillip must now enter a fourth realm to retrieve the key and restore harmony to the unstable land.

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Critics Consensus

Lacking a transporting yuletide story or dazzling dance routines, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms is a hollow holiday confection that's lovely to look at -- and easy to forget.

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Roxana Hadadi

Chesapeake Family Magazine

Disney's pretty-looking The Nutcracker and the Four Realms is immediately forgettable. The disparate elements of the story barely fit together.

Rated: 2.5/5

Feb 7, 2019

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Wenlei Ma

News.com.au

Younger audiences will enjoy the bright colours and fun energy but it's unlikely to leave a lasting impression. Sometimes, that's enough. But don't expect it to become an instant favourite.

Rated: 3/5

Nov 25, 2018

Full Review

Victoria Smith (Gloswitch)

New Statesman

At times it has the feel of a computer game: cross the bridge, open the gates, jump off the wall, beat the boss. Only characters in computer games tend to be more unpredictable, with more than one twist.

Nov 12, 2018

Full Review

Calum Cooper

Source (Scotland)

It has grand ambitions and a decent eye for visuals. But its presentation is soulless and unrefined, coming off less like a magical adventure of its own right, and more like the sugar free alternative to Narnia.

Rated: 2/5

Jul 14, 2024

Full Review

Dan Bayer

Next Best Picture

A film that keeps throwing production design at you to obscure the fact that nearly everything else is a bit of a mess.

Rated: 4/10

May 13, 2022

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Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

A 99-minute mess of stilted dialogue, wooden performances, and predictable themes.

Rated: 1.5/4

Mar 8, 2022

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JACOB B.

The Nutcracker and the four realms is a good Christmas movie for the holiday season telling a story about a girl who received a present from her uncle and is teleported to a world where there are four realms and she friends a the Nutcracker named Philip and has to go through a bunch of mice and has to go through so many other realms to find a key to get back to the real world which the Nutcracker and the four realms sound like Alice in Wonderland Meet Coraline because of the plot of the movie but the Nutcracker and the four realms it's a good movie for families to watch because it's a good Christmas movie and it's a good movie for families to come around and watch for the holiday season because it has that Christmas feeling and it has that Christmas setting to the story that literally makes the nutcracker and the four realms a Christmas movie because of the story the setting and the background and the characters the Nutcracker and the four realms wasn't a box office hit for Disney but the movie did become a Christmas classic if it's not like one of the best Disney movies ever come out it will still live on as a Christmas classic from Disney for generations

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/21/25

Full Review

Audience Member

I have never seen a movie distain it's source material more. The movie keeps cutting away from the nutcracker dances and songs to tell a completely different story until it ceases to be a nutcracker movie at all. From minute 25-125 if you were not given the title of this movie, you would never guess it's source. And that is the disparaging condemnation one could possibly have of a timeless classic. This is a movie that is ashamed of itself.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

03/19/25

Full Review

Shilo Y

This movie deserves better!😡😤

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/03/25

Full Review

Chloe A

Had high hopes for this, but Disney kinda blew it.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/18/25

Full Review

Nadine B

On the fence: both my boys loved it….ita a magical adventure! me on the other hand…I’m confused! The story is weird…why in the world would you make the sugar plum fairy evil?! And the nutcracker? You never get the feeling like there’s a real nutcracker in this story…and I don’t like some of the choices that they made actor wise! Not enough of the beautiful music and dancing for my taste! BUT….the visuals!!! The Costumes! Just stunning! Really amazing and magical!

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

12/30/24

Full Review

Rachel V

We loved this! My boys are 6 and 8 and love fantasy stories as well as the nutcracker music and this did not disappoint! I loved how smart, inventive and strong of a character Clara was. There is a lack of exciting Christmas movies kids can enjoy and this was perfect.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/25/24

Full Review

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Lasse Hallström

Director

Joe Johnston

Director

Keira Knightley

Actor

Mackenzie Foy

Actor

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The Nutcracker and the Four Realms: Behind the Scenes - The Costumes

1:10

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms: Behind the Scenes - Building the Sets

1:38

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms: Behind the Scenes - All About Misty

1:18

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms: Final Trailer

2:02

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms: Trailer 1

1:30

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms: Teaser Trailer 1

1:42

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Synopsis

Young Clara needs a magical, one-of-a-kind key to unlock a box that contains a priceless gift. A golden thread leads her to the coveted key, but it soon disappears into a strange and mysterious parallel world. In that world, she meets a soldier named Phillip, a group of mice and the regents who preside over three realms. Clara and Phillip must now enter a fourth realm to retrieve the key and restore harmony to the unstable land.

Director: Lasse Hallström, Joe Johnston
Producer: Mark Gordon, Larry J. Franco
Screenwriter: Ashleigh Powell
Distributor: Walt Disney
Production Co: The Mark Gordon Company
Rating: PG (Some Mild Peril)
Genre: Kids & Family, Holiday, Fantasy, Adventure
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 2, 2018, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 29, 2019
Box Office (Gross USA): $54.8M
Runtime: 1h 39m
Sound Mix: Dolby Atmos
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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