Adapted by Tom Stoppard from Leo Tolstoy's 1878 novel, the film depicts the tragedy of Russian aristocrat and socialite Anna Karenina, wife of senior statesman Alexei Karenin, and her affair with the affluent cavalry officer Count Vronsky.

Keira Knightley stars as the titular character; this is her third collaboration with director Joe Wright following Pride & Prejudice (2005) and Atonement (2007).

Matthew Macfadyen, Kelly Macdonald, Domhnall Gleeson, and Alicia Vikander appear in key supporting roles.

In addition, Anna Karenina garnered six nominations at the 17th Satellite Awards, including a Best Actress nod for Knightley and a Best Adapted Screenplay for Stoppard.

In the Russian Empire in 1874, Princess Darya, nicknamed "Dolly", banishes her unfaithful husband, Prince Stephan "Stiva" Oblonsky.

Stiva's sister, Anna Karenina, a socialite living in Saint Petersburg with her older husband Count Alexei Karenin and son Seryozha, travels to Moscow to persuade Dolly to forgive her brother.

Stiva meets old friend Konstantin "Kostya" Levin, a landowning aristocrat despised by Moscow's elite for preferring the countryside to city life.

Levin meets his older brother Nikolai, who has renounced his inheritance and lives as man and wife with Masha, a prostitute.

Pip Torrens and Susanne Lothar play Prince Shcherbatsky and Princess Shcherbatskaya, parents to Dolly and Kitty.

Joe Wright was hired to direct an adaptation of the Leo Tolstoy novel Anna Karenina, his fourth collaboration with Working Title Films.

Further crew members include cinematographer Seamus McGarvey, editor Melanie Ann Oliver, and choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui.

[6] The cast includes Keira Knightley as Anna, Jude Law as her husband, Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Vronsky,[5][12] and Irish actor Domhnall Gleeson as Konstantin Levin, as well as Kelly Macdonald, Olivia Williams, Matthew Macfadyen, Michelle Dockery, and Tannishtha Chatterjee.

[7][13][14] Saoirse Ronan and Andrea Riseborough were initially cast in the film, but dropped out and were replaced by Alicia Vikander and Ruth Wilson, respectively.

The website's critics consensus reads: "Joe Wright's energetic adaptation of Tolstoy's classic romance is a bold, visually stylized work – for both better and worse.

[22] Ian Freer of Empire awarded the film four stars out of five and was effervescent in his praise for Wright and the final result: he said "Anna Karenina militantly doesn't want to be just another costume drama; it attacks the heavyweight concerns of Russian literature (hypocrisy, jealousy, faith, fidelity, the pastoral vs. the urban, huge mustaches) with wit and verve; most exciting of all, it is filmmaking of the highest order, channeling every other art form from painting to ballet to puppetry while remaining completely cinematic".

[23] In The Observer, Jason Solomons also called Knightley "superb", and declared that the film "works beautifully...[it is] elegant and exciting [and] ...incredibly cinematic".

[25] The Daily Mirror singled out Knightley as "excellent" and lauded Wright for "offer[ing] a fresh vision of the Tolstoy classic", concluding the picture to be "with its beautiful cinematography and costumes... a real success".

The Hertfordshire Mercury conceded that "costumes and art direction are ravishing, and Seamus McGarvey's cinematography shimmers with rich colour", but ultimately found there to be "no obvious method behind this production design madness".

[27] Stella Papamichael of Digital Spy also awarded the picture only two stars out of five, commenting that "the third time isn't such a charm for director Joe Wright and muse Keira Knightley".

Although she found the actress "luminous in the role" she criticised Wright for "outshining" his star and affecting the narrative momentum by "favouring a glossy look over probing insights into a complicated character".

[28] Neil Smith of Total Film also awarded the film two out of five stars, lamenting the fact that Wright's elaborate stage design "pull[s] the attention away from where it should be... [and] keeps [us] at arm's length, forever highlighting the smoke, mirrors and meticulous stage management that have been pressed into service to make his big idea a reality".