Chris Evans and Ana de Armas’ new rom-com hasn’t even been released yet and it has already started to face difficulties.

Directed by Dexter Fletcher, Ghosted is an upcoming romantic comedy starring Marvel star Chris Evans and Oscar nominee Ana de Armas. The two have already worked together on more than one occasion with Rian Johnson’s Knives Out being their first project after which they were spotted sharing the screen on 2022’s The Gray Man as well. Ghosted will thus be their third venture together.

Ana de Armas and Chris Evans
The film was originally meant to star Black Widow actress Scarlett Johansson as Evans’ romantic interest. Courtesy of her tight schedule though, the former had to step down from the role and that’s when De Armas took over instead. But it looks like it worked out in Johansson’s favor because even before the film has released, Ghosted is already backlash for a controversial plot.

Ghosted And Its Controversial Storyline

With Chris Evans as Cole Riggan and Ana de Armas playing Sadie, Ghosted is about two strangers who bump into each other on accident but end up clicking instantly. While both of them seem to be into each other, Cole is, to put it simply, whipped. And the same is conspicuous because who else would mention someone they just met and barely know to their family whilst firmly believing them to be “the one” if not a hopeless romantic?
Ana de Armas and Chris Evans in Ghosted
But just when Cole was starting to get all heart eyes for Sadie, the latter ends up vanishing out of the blue, rendering Evans’ character to be utterly conflicted. However, her disappearance doesn’t deter him from pursuing her, at first in the form of bombarding her with text messages and then going after her to London. Now, that is where it gets outright alarming.

When Sadie stops responding, a distraught Cole decides to practically stalk her to a different country. While going 5000 miles to chase after a girl he’s only met once in his life is sold as “a grand romantic gesture” on Cole’s part, in reality, it simply comes off as a nutcase stalking someone he got infatuated with. Hasn’t Penn Badgley preached enough about not romanticizing the likes of Joe?

Why Ghosted Is Edging Toward Dangerous Grounds With Its Problematic Plot

Films and shows, though fiction, hold the power to inculcate certain values and characteristics in the viewers’ minds. The movies we watch often mold our perspective about numerous aspects of life. And that is exactly why movies like Ghosted end up getting frowned upon because they set a dangerous precedent, which in this case, comes in the form of consent or the lack thereof.
Ana de Armas and Chris Evans on the set of Ghosted
Ghosted wouldn’t be the first rom-com to make toxic behavior look romantic through the rose-tinted glass of delusion. There have been plenty of films that seem to foster such creepy romances where relentlessly chasing after someone regardless of the circumstances or their feelings is made to look admirable. But the world of fiction is one distinct from real life where morally grey characters are admired more than heroes and the line between right and wrong is inconsequential and nebulous. Reality, on the other hand, operates in a drastically different way. And it’s better to keep these two worlds as far as apart as possible.

Ghosted is set to be released by Apple TV + on April 21, 2023.