Ghosted

I watched Ghosted on a rainy Tuesday evening while eating a bowl of Cap'n Crunch that had gone tragically soggy because I spent ten minutes trying to remember which other movie Adrien Brody played a villain in (it was Peaky Blinders, mostly). There is something inherently "streaming era" about that experience. You don't prepare for a movie like Ghosted; you collide with it while scrolling past prestige dramas you’re too tired to focus on. It is the cinematic equivalent of a high-end microwave burrito: satisfying in the moment, gone from your memory by breakfast, and arguably a $40 million Tinder ad that went off the rails.

The premise is a classic gender-swap on the "secret agent" trope. Chris Evans plays Cole Turner, a salt-of-the-earth farmer who is so clingy he makes saran wrap look loose. After one admittedly charming date with the enigmatic Sadie (Ana de Armas), he sends her eleven texts in 24 hours. When she "ghosts" him, he does the only logical thing: he uses a Tile tracker left in her bag to fly to London to surprise her. In any other genre, this is a horror movie. Here, it’s the catalyst for an international spy caper.

The "Content" Era Aesthetic

Director Dexter Fletcher, who brought such vibrant life to Rocketman, finds himself in a different world here. Released straight to Apple TV+, Ghosted is a prime example of the "Streaming Blockbuster"—a film designed to look expensive enough to justify a subscription but safe enough to play in the background of a loud party. The lighting has that peculiar digital sheen, and the locations feel like they were chosen by an algorithm designed to maximize "scenic variety."

Yet, there is a weird, kinetic energy to it that I found hard to hate. The screenplay, penned by Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese (the minds behind Deadpool), leans heavily into the bickering-couple dynamic. The action is staged with a playful, almost cartoonish rhythm. There’s a mountain-side bus chase in Pakistan—soundtracked to "Uptown Funk," of all things—that is so physics-defying it crosses the line from "thrilling" to "delightfully absurd." It’s the kind of sequence that knows it's silly and dares you to care.

A Marvelous Case of Stunt Casting

If this movie ever achieves a "cult" footnote in history, it will be because of its mid-movie cameo spree. At one point, Cole and Sadie are pursued by a series of rival bounty hunters, and the screen becomes a revolving door of Chris Evans' former Marvel co-stars. It’s a total "inside baseball" moment for fans of the MCU, and while it completely grinds the plot to a halt, the sheer audacity of turning a romantic comedy into a superhero reunion party is exactly the kind of chaos I appreciate.

Chris Evans is clearly having a blast playing against his Captain America persona. He spends most of the movie screaming, tripping over his own feet, and being "the damsel." It’s refreshing to see him lean into his comedic timing, which he’s honed since the days of Not Another Teen Movie. Ana de Armas, meanwhile, handles the heavy lifting with a cool, detached professionality. Does the chemistry sizzle? Not exactly. It’s more of a pleasant simmer—the kind of spark you have with a coworker you like but wouldn’t take a bullet for.

The Adrien Brody Factor

Every cult-adjacent oddity needs a villain who understands the assignment, and Adrien Brody as Leveque is that guy. He plays the arms dealer with an accent that seems to migrate across Europe depending on the scene, and he’s clearly decided that "subtlety" was not in his contract. Along with Mike Moh, who brings some actual martial arts credibility to the proceedings, the villains provide a campy counterweight to the central romance.

The film's third act takes place in a revolving restaurant that spins faster and faster as the shootout intensifies. It’s a metaphor for the movie itself: dizzying, slightly nauseating, but undeniably a spectacle. Apparently, the crew actually built a massive, rotating set for this sequence rather than relying entirely on CGI, which gives the chaos a much-needed sense of physical weight. You can see the sweat on the actors, and in a film that often feels like it was filmed entirely in front of a green screen in Atlanta, that bit of practical effort shines through.

Ghosted isn’t going to redefine the action-romance genre, and it certainly won't be the first thing mentioned in Dexter Fletcher’s career retrospective. It is a product of its time—a star-driven, high-concept, algorithm-friendly romp that succeeds purely on the charisma of its leads and a few "did that really just happen?" cameos. It’s a fun five minutes for your brain to go on vacation, even if you can’t quite remember the postcards afterward.

If you're looking for a movie that captures the frantic, star-studded, "everything-all-at-once" energy of 2023 streaming cinema, you could do a lot worse. Just don't expect it to text you back the next day.