Directed, co-written and produced by Andrei Konchalovsky, the film stars Elle Fanning, Nathan Lane, John Turturro, Frances de la Tour, Richard E. Grant and Yulia Vysotskaya, with Charlie Rowe and Shirley Henderson as the Nutcracker.

Set in 1920s Vienna, the plot follows a young girl who receives a magical doll that is revealed to be a prince and embarks on an adventure to save his kingdom from the Rat King.

An international co-production of the United Kingdom, Russia and Hungary, the film was panned by critics upon release, and was criticised for its story, deviations from the ballet, offputting and oftentimes disturbing visuals, the decision to adapt Tchaikovsky's score into lyrical musical numbers, and the artistic direction to allude to World War II and the Holocaust, and make the Rats reminiscent of Nazis.

While Joseph and Louise attend a party on Christmas Eve, Mary's uncle Albert arrives and gifts both her and Max a dollhouse and "NC," a nutcracker doll whom she takes a liking to.

In the dollhouse, Mary meets NC's friends; Gielgud, a gentlemanly chimpanzee; Tinker, a pernickety opera singer; and Sticks, a drummer boy.

Since NC was turned into a nutcracker, the Rat King has been oppressing his people, and forcing them to work in factories where the children's toys are burnt to form dark clouds over the city to block out sunlight, which he is afraid of.

Mary discovers Gielgud, who evaded capture, and they find a portal to the city in the house's attic, and after stealing disguises from a rat, search for their friends.

She goes downstairs to Uncle Albert, who introduces her to his new neighbour: a boy her age, who resembles the Nutcracker Prince and asks to be called NC.

[5] He was inspired to adapt it into 3D for several reasons; he believed that the format would be useful in conveying the fantastical nature of the material, capturing the emotions of CGI characters, and appealing to a family audience.

[1][8] In December 2020, VEB filed a lawsuit against the producers for unpaid loans, totaling USD$127.8 million, claiming they had withheld proceeds from ticket sales.

[14] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it one out of four stars and asked, "From what dark night of the soul emerged the wretched idea for The Nutcracker in 3D?".

"[15] Claudia Puig of USA Today accused the film of being "contrived, convoluted, amateurish and tedious," and panned it for lacking any trace of ballet, unlike several previous versions of The Nutcracker.

[16] Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "With the chief villain and his goose-stepping minions bearing no small resemblance to Nazis, the ensuing plot developments are uncomfortable to the extreme.