The Nutcracker and the Four Realms
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures | Release Date: November 2, 2018 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
39
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 38 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
21
Negative:
13
Watch Now
Stream On
Stream On
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
79
Film Journal InternationalLisa Jo SagollaOct 31, 2018
A movie that should be seen on the big screen, in order to fully appreciate its special effects, this Disney production will likely enchant lots of little girls and boys while also tugging at the heartstrings of grown-up sons and daughters who still value all that was given to them by their departed parents Read full review
75
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanOct 31, 2018
In the end, “Nutcracker” is a delightfully old-school diversion. The plot may not always hum with the clockwork precision of one of Drosselmeyer’s mechanical toys, but like a music box, it nevertheless plays a sweet tune. Read full review
65
IGNRosie KnightOct 31, 2018
An uneven and festive offering brimming with glitter and gaudiness that excels when it embraces its strangeness and the brilliance of the production design. Read full review
63
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldNov 4, 2018
An enjoyably nutty more-is-more family holiday extravaganza. Read full review
60
EmpireHelen O'HaraNov 5, 2018
As sweet as a sugar plum and only slightly more nutritious, this shows scars from a tumultuous road to the screen but still emerges as a whimsical, likeable fairy tale. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranNov 1, 2018
The visual allure of this production is undeniable, but having the nerve to be simple and nice all the way through is, even for Disney, verging on being a lost art. Read full review
60
Arizona RepublicKerry LengelOct 31, 2018
Fans of fancy period costumes and supernatural effects both get plenty to gawk at, but the story offers no real surprises, and that includes the big plot twist. Read full review
60
The GuardianCath ClarkeOct 31, 2018
I have to admit to being helplessly enchanted – or suckered – for the most part. There’s wit here and The Nutcracker will take you from zero to Christmas jumper in the opening sequence. What’s missing is the melancholy darkness of ETA Hoffmann’s story. Instead, schmaltz-merchant director Lasse Hallström tugs at the heartstrings and ladles on the syrup. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubKatie RifeOct 31, 2018
Every aspect of of the movie feels as if it’s been determined by algorithm, workshopped and test-marketed into a state of pleasant, fleeting dullness. Read full review
50
Film ThreatAlan NgNov 8, 2018
It is Foy’s performance and presence that makes you want to stay to the end. She is the girl thrust into leadership with the vulnerabilities of her young age and with youthful curiosity. She’s not a child pretending to be an adult, but a child forced to act like one. Read full review
50
Screen DailyTim GriersonNov 2, 2018
Both overstuffed and underwhelming, Disney’s spectacle-driven reimagining of the beloved holiday staple tries to serve many masters, and the result is a family film straining to be both timeless and timely, simultaneously old-fashioned yet cheekily irreverent. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliNov 2, 2018
Designed for and targeted at prepubescent girls, the holiday-themed fantasy adventure drowns in CGI, underdeveloped characters, and a plot utterly devoid of energy and excitement. Read full review
50
Original-CinLiam LaceyNov 1, 2018
There’s nothing inherently wrong with this greatest-hits patchwork approach or the correct racially diverse, girl-power script from Ashleigh Powell. There’s also nothing new or necessary about this jumbled, pretty mess of a movie, which barely covers the seams between its varied pilferings. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternNov 1, 2018
The good news is twofold. Ms. Foy, an accomplished performer, is appealing throughout. And Keira Knightley, as the Sugar Plum Fairy, gives the film several desperately needed jolts of edgy energy. Read full review
50
ConsequenceCaroline SiedeNov 1, 2018
For a film that looks this wacky, it’s a shame that The Nutcracker and the Four Realms is ultimately pretty boring. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Martha SchabasNov 1, 2018
So the big question for the new Disney adaptation of The Nutcracker, sure to ride the wave of the ballet’s seasonal popularity: What’s to be done with the cumbersome story? Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleClaudia BauerOct 31, 2018
If only the villains were more villainous, the plot more intriguing and the jokes funnier, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms would be one for the ages. Read full review
50
The New York TimesAisha HarrisOct 31, 2018
The ballet dancer Misty Copeland, who makes a brief appearance during the film and in the closing credits, is the highlight, gracefully unhindered by silly dialogue in two dance sequences. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyDarren FranichOct 31, 2018
The rare quiet moments in Nutcracker suggest Foy might be a real movie star. Let’s give her a real movie and find out. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTom RussoOct 31, 2018
What starts as a modest, agreeable riff on E.T.A. Hoffmann’s original tale — and, more relevantly, Tchaikovsky’s ballet — eventually veers into stultifying action, rote twists, and other badly forced contemporary tweaks. Read full review
40
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeNov 8, 2018
There is a slightly panicky desperation to the cacophonous production design, and a sense of trying to distract from a plot as thin as spun sugar. Read full review
40
Time OutGreer McNallyNov 2, 2018
While visually stunning and stocked with enviable onscreen talent, this holiday confection falls flat. Read full review
40
SlateInkoo KangNov 1, 2018
The Nutcracker’s onslaught of wholesomeness also lays waste to anything that might stand in its way, leaving it crushed under the boot heels of its tin soldiers. Read full review
40
The TelegraphTim RobeyOct 31, 2018
It has the feel of a clockwork musical toy that’s been tinkered with and shaken to life over and over – it cranks out a tune, all right, but the feeling of labour behind it dampens the magic. Read full review
40
VarietyPeter DebrugeOct 31, 2018
So much care has gone into each of the departments, from Guy Hendrix Dyas’ exquisite production design to Jenny Beavan’s micro-detailed costumes to composer James Newton Howard’s loving update of the Tchaikovsky score, and while any one of these elements might be tasteful in and of itself, it’s all too much to take in at once — the kind of overkill for which Liberace was known. Read full review
38
RogerEbert.comChristy LemireNov 2, 2018
A weirdly hideous hodgepodge of images and ideas, as convoluted as its confusing title would suggest. Read full review
38
Chicago TribuneKatie WalshOct 31, 2018
This is your warning that if you have any affinity for the ballet, avoid this at all costs. Read full review
38
The Associated PressMark KennedyOct 31, 2018
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms is visually marvelous, inconsistently acted and rather incoherent in that fantasy genre way. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineJake ColeOct 31, 2018
One may wish that the entire film had restaged the entirely of Tchaikovsky's ballet rather than reimagine it as an ultimately lifeless epic fantasy. Read full review
38
Movie NationRoger MooreOct 31, 2018
Disney’s The Nutcracker and the Four Realms offers up a heaping helping of eye candy and treacle for the holidays, If only they’d had a coherent story and a good actress in the lead. If only those were the only two serious shortcomings in this brainless, cotton candy bauble. Read full review
33
IndieWireDavid EhrlichOct 31, 2018
For a movie with so much stuff to look at, the only things you really see during The Nutcracker and the Four Realms are all of the recent movies that it’s flagrantly trying to recycle. Read full review
30
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyOct 31, 2018
Disney's attempt to wrestle E.T.A. Hoffmann's 1816 story and the perennially popular Tchaikovsky ballet into a fairy tale with a modern attitude is like one of those big, elaborately decorated, butter cream-frosted cakes that looks delicious but can make you quite ill. Read full review
30
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyOct 31, 2018
It's a Frankenstein's monster. It lacks the captivating charms of Disney's live-action remakes of "Cinderella" and "Beauty and the Beast," or the fabulous distraction of Angelina Jolie that kept the revisionist "Sleeping Beauty, Maleficent," semi-entertaining. Read full review
25
New York PostJohnny OleksinskiOct 31, 2018
Some of the powerful characters you thought were good are evil and vice versa. It’s like “Wicked,” but wretched. Read full review
25
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeOct 31, 2018
Maybe it was the massive reshoots — directorial credit is shared by Lasse Hallstrom, who shot the first go-round, and Joe Johnston — or perhaps the script by first-timer Ashleigh Powell was always muddled and convoluted, but the results are singularly dispiriting. Read full review
20
Rolling StonePeter TraversNov 1, 2018
Slow torture for kids and grownups alike, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms gives a bad name to the very concept of family entertainment. Read full review
20
New York Magazine (Vulture)Emily YoshidaOct 31, 2018
There’s nothing grounding enough here; everything — the sets, the costumes, the performances — seems to drift off in a CGI haze. As a contender for cherished childhood mythology, its methods are cheap. And as a mere child distractor, it seems awfully expensive. Read full review
11
Austin ChronicleJosh KupeckiOct 31, 2018
The film is as bland as Melba toast served on a bed of parsley while snatching sips of water from a nearby puddle following a rainstorm (that actually, in retrospect, could have some flavor). It is the very antithesis of creative destruction. Read full review
More From This Movie

39 Critic Reviews

4.8 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL