Ghosted (2023 film)

When Love Meets Espionage

Directed by Dexter Fletcher, known for his work on Rocketman, Ghosted brought together two of Hollywood's most recognizable faces: Chris Evans and Ana de Armas. This action-comedy promised a thrilling blend of romance, laughs, and international espionage. But its journey from concept to screen, and its reception, proved to be quite a rollercoaster.

At its heart, Ghosted tells the story of an ordinary man, Cole, who falls madly in love with the enigmatic Sadie after a single unforgettable date. Before their romance can blossom, Cole stumbles upon Sadie's true identity: a top-secret agent. Suddenly, their budding relationship is complicated by a whirlwind of danger, forcing them both into an unexpected adventure across the globe.

Released by Apple TV+ in April 2023, the film garnered a perplexing duality in its reception. While critics largely delivered unfavorable reviews, citing everything from a lack of chemistry to a formulaic plot, audiences flocked to it. Ghosted defied critical consensus by becoming the most watched film debut in Apple TV+'s history.

A Date, A Tracker, and A Spy

Our story begins in Washington, D.C., where organic farmer and hopeless romantic, Cole Turner, encounters Sadie Rhodes, a professional whose work often takes her abroad. Their initial meeting at a farmers' market sparks an instant connection, leading to an enchanting, all-night date that promises a future together. But what happens when that promise seems to vanish into thin air?

After the perfect evening, Cole's texts to Sadie go unanswered, leading his sister to suspect he's been 'ghosted.' Undeterred and encouraged by his parents, Cole makes a bold decision. He discovers he accidentally left his inhaler in Sadie's bag—a convenient plot device equipped with a tracker—and uses it to locate her, planning to surprise her in London.

Cole's romantic gesture quickly devolves into a nightmare. Upon arriving in London, he's abducted and taken to Pakistan by dangerous arms dealers who mistakenly believe him to be a legendary CIA operative known as 'the Taxman.' Just as he's about to face a truly unpleasant interrogation involving insects, Sadie swoops in dramatically, revealing herself to be the real 'Taxman' and rescuing him.

After a high-octane chase through the treacherous Khyber Pass, Cole and Sadie escape their immediate captors. These criminals are working for Leveque, a disgraced French intelligence agent obsessed with selling a stolen bioweapon called 'Aztec.' Leveque desperately needs a specific passcode to access the deadly device, putting Cole directly in the crosshairs.

Reaching a nearby town, the duo engages in a heated argument about their respective deceptions. There, they encounter Marco, Sadie's old contact and former lover, who warns Cole about Sadie's mission-first mentality, even showing his missing hand as proof of her past sacrifices. Marco reluctantly agrees to help Cole return home, but their plan is quickly derailed.

Leveque places a massive bounty on Cole's head, triggering a chaotic onslaught of bounty hunters. Marco is tragically killed in the ensuing crossfire, but the bounty hunters, in their greed, largely eliminate each other. Realizing Leveque's true objective, Sadie makes a calculated, and dangerous, decision: she will use Cole as bait to recover the Aztec bioweapon.

Sadie delivers Cole to Leveque as planned, leading to a tense confrontation aboard a private jet. Leveque's henchman, Wagner, discovers a picture of Cole and Sadie in bed on Cole's phone, blowing their cover. In a desperate move, Cole manages to parachute to safety with the Aztec case, taking a wounded Sadie with him. They land precariously on Socotra Island.

Stranded, Cole surprisingly utilizes his agricultural knowledge to treat Sadie's injuries, impressing her with his resourcefulness and his successful recovery of the Aztec case. However, their respite is short-lived as Leveque's men ambush them. Just when all hope seems lost, U.S. Marines arrive in the nick of time, rescuing them from certain peril.

The Code, The Confrontation, The Comeback

At CIA headquarters, Cole undergoes a lie-detector test, successfully convincing agents he's an unwitting civilian. Yet, he's deeply hurt when Sadie reveals her belief that she should have sacrificed him for the mission's success. Sadie, meanwhile, is suspended for losing the Aztec device, and the agency attempts to subtly turn Cole against her.

But Cole, observing an unusual crop in Sadie's mission photos, has a sudden epiphany—he deduces the crucial passcode for the Aztec device! Armed with this unexpected leverage, the CIA persuades Cole to resume his masquerade as 'the Taxman,' setting a trap for Leveque by offering to sell him the newly deciphered code.

Leveque meets Cole at a bustling revolving restaurant, alongside a potential buyer for Aztec, Mr. Utami. Leveque, ever the villain, orchestrates the swift elimination of the agents monitoring Cole. Just as things seem dire, Sadie dramatically arrives, rekindling Cole's trust in her. She then sells the passcode to Mr. Utami for a cool $10 million.

With the $10 million in hand, Sadie immediately turns the tables on Leveque, placing an instantaneous bounty on his head. The restaurant erupts into chaos as a swarm of bounty hunters, drawn by the sudden reward, descends upon them, transforming the elegant dining room into an all-out war zone.

A furious gunfight ensues. Cole and Sadie, now working as a cohesive unit, fight their way through the relentless bounty hunters and Utami's bodyguards. Despite his inexperience, Cole displays surprising combat instincts, proving to be an effective partner for Sadie by tackling opponents and providing crucial cover with a shotgun.

During the melee, Wagner, Leveque's henchman, corners Cole in the mechanical room beneath the restaurant, their brutal one-on-one fight causing critical damage to the revolving mechanism. Leveque, seizing the opportunity, shoots Mr. Utami. Cole, in a moment of desperate ingenuity, dispatches Wagner by throwing him into the malfunctioning machinery.

Returning to Sadie's aid, Cole joins her in a final pursuit of Leveque against the accelerating walls of the spinning restaurant. Sadie ultimately sends Leveque crashing through a window to his demise. In a thrilling conclusion, she narrowly secures the Aztec device, using Cole as her anchor in the rapidly rotating structure.

A Future Together

With the mission accomplished and their bond solidified, Cole and Sadie rekindle their unique relationship. We last see Sadie meeting Cole's family, fully integrated into his world. They reveal their new arrangement: traveling together as Cole conducts his agricultural research and Sadie 'hunts down' her clients, finding a way to make time for each other amidst their extraordinary lives.

Behind the Scenes of the Action

The journey to bring Ghosted to the screen began in August 2021, with initial negotiations for Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson to star. However, scheduling conflicts led to Johansson's departure. By December 2021, Ana de Armas stepped into the leading role, joining Evans to form the film's central duo. Adrien Brody joined the cast in February 2022, followed by Mike Moh, Amy Sedaris, Tim Blake Nelson, and Tate Donovan in March, rounding out the ensemble.

Principal photography for Ghosted took place from February to May 2022. The crew filmed across various locations, bringing the globe-trotting adventure to life. Key sites included Tallulah Gorge State Park in Georgia, multiple spots in Washington D.C. including the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and Ford's Theatre, and even the Kennedy Center. Scenes depicting the rugged Khyber Pass mountains were captured in New Mexico, while the city of Mingora, Pakistan, was meticulously recreated on a set in Atlanta.

A Streaming Sensation, A Critical Miss

Upon its release on Apple TV+ on April 21, 2023, Ghosted immediately made waves—though perhaps not in the way one might expect. Despite the generally lukewarm to negative critical reception, the film quickly proved to be a massive draw for viewers. According to Samba TV, an impressive 328,500 smart television households tuned in during its first two days alone.

This viewership made Ghosted Apple TV+'s most watched film debut in the platform's history, a significant achievement for the burgeoning streaming service. It demonstrated that even with critical ambivalence, star power and an accessible genre can drive immense audience engagement in the direct-to-streaming landscape.

The Critics Weigh In

Review aggregator websites painted a stark picture of Ghosted's critical standing. Rotten Tomatoes reported that only 25% of 118 critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 4.2/10. Their consensus bluntly stated that the film 'earns a chorus of boos,' criticizing its inability to solidify into a satisfying whole amidst its genre blend. Metacritic echoed this sentiment, assigning a weighted average score of 34 out of 100 based on 29 critics, indicating 'generally unfavorable reviews.'

Many critics highlighted a perceived lack of chemistry between the two leads, despite their individual talents. Benjamin Lee of The Guardian called the film 'a staggeringly, maddeningly atrocious heap of increasingly boneheaded decisions.' Peter Sobczynski of RogerEbert.com went further, comparing it negatively to genre classics like True Lies and Mr. & Mrs. Smith, labeling it 'a tedious exercise in sheer greed and laziness' that relied too heavily on its famous faces. David Ehrlich of IndieWire critiqued the film's lack of commitment, suggesting it had 'no interest in anything more than a casual relationship with its audience.'

However, not all reviews were entirely negative. Stephanie Zacharek at Time magazine offered a more positive take on Evans and de Armas's chemistry, even while acknowledging the film's familiarity. She noted that Ghosted 'clacks along efficiently, ticking off all the expected boxes,' offering a 'pleasant ectoplasmic shimmer of a formula you've seen a million times before,' vanishing quickly after viewing.

Nicholas Barber, writing for BBC Online, provided a broader perspective on the film's appeal, suggesting that 'viewers have different requirements when they're clicking away at home on a Tuesday night.' He posited that films like Ghosted offer 'precision-engineered undemanding escapism' that families can easily agree to watch, perhaps explaining its streaming success despite critical disdain.

Unwanted Accolades

Despite its commercial success on Apple TV+, Ghosted's critical lambasting culminated in some less-than-desirable recognition. The film received three nominations at the 44th Golden Raspberry Awards, often referred to as the 'Razzies,' which spotlight the worst films of the year.

Award / Film Festival	Category	Recipient(s)	Result
Golden Raspberry Awards	Worst Actor	Chris Evans	Nominated
Golden Raspberry Awards	Worst Actress	Ana de Armas	Nominated
Golden Raspberry Awards	Worst Screen Couple	Ana de Armas & Chris Evans (who flunked Screen Chemistry)	Nominated