Passion. Wild chase scenes. Cameos from MCU actors? Ghosted is a thrill ride. The wildly fun Apple TV+ film drops April 21. In it, sparks of all kinds fly between Chris Evans and Ana de Armas. Directed with fervor by Dexter Fletcher (Wild Bill, Eddie the Eagle, Rocketman), the plot finds reliable, down-to-earth Cole (Evans) falling for enigmatic Sadie (de Armas).

Sounds dreamy, right? But the bliss is short-lived. After an initial connection, Cole is ghosted by Sadie. He frets, only to discover Sadie is a secret agent, then all hell breaks loose. Suddenly, Cole and Sadie are catapulted into an international adventure. Toss in the added desperation of “saving the world” and you got yourself a wild romp that gender flips the archaic damsel in distress stereotype and delivers a clever and unconventional odd couple. Here, Evans’ characters needs saving the most.

Ana de Armas is riveting throughout the film, and the chemistry she and Evans have surely will generate buzz for potential future endeavors. Viewers are bound to also appreciate all the action sequences here, but two sequences stand out: an extended edge-of-your-seat bus chase along the mountainside rand the film’s epic finale between our heroes and rogue characters in a circular skyline restaurant. Fetching eye candy, particularly for small screen standards.

Meanwhile, the great Adrien Brody, Mike Moh, Tate Donovan, Amy Sedaris, and Lizze Broadway costar in the story penned by screenwriters Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, Chris McKenna, and Erik Sommers. Chris Evans is also one the film’s producers. Director Dexter Fletcher shared more about the film and its lead actors with MovieWeb.

International Adventures with Chris Evans and Ana de Armas

MovieWeb: The film is shot in a number of locations, but deep down, the theme of an unlikely relationship anchors all the action. What’s your biggest hope for audiences experiencing this?

Dexter Fletcher: Modern life is a fairly complicated thing, and finding time for the right person and fitting them into your busy schedule is significant. There’s a little bit of that in this movie. Sadie, Ana’s character, is a very high achiever, and Chris’ character, Cole, is a kind of simple guy, really. I like the take on someone turning up at your work kind of unannounced. That’s quite a simple thing to grasp. But I wanted a nice romance to come out of it really — two people who are sort of closed off or getting in their own way and finding a way to work together. So, mixed in among all that action, craziness, and comedy, it’s really about two people who find a way to figure it out, which is quite complicated.

Related: Best Ana de Armas Performances, Ranked

MW: The chemistry between Chris and Ana is great. Share more about your experience directing them.

Dexter Fletcher: What’s great about Chris is that he and Ana are great friends. This is the third time they’re creating characters together and working together, and they’re obviously great admirers of each other’s work. I was gifted in that respect as the director because I just had to exploit that great friendship, and see how they gelled together, which they really do. They thought it was enormous fun. That translates well in the film.

Dexter Fletcher: But I think what they uniquely bring is that […] Chris is really trying to upend this perceived notion of this idealized version of ‘Chris Evans,’ that he’s this can-do superhero guy. He plays someone who’s very real here, and a little out of his depth at certain points. Then Ana has this great opportunity to really expand on what she did in Blonde so brilliantly, and offer her take on being this really efficient, high achiever in the world of espionage.

On the Epic Action Sequences and Cameos of Ghosted

Apple TV+

MW: Those action sequences. Wow. Inventive and surprising. I read that it took you some time to orchestrate all that, especially the bus scene. What was most challenging for you? That wild bus sequence or the action-packed spinning restaurant sequence in the finale?

Dexter Fletcher: I didn’t want those scenes to outstay their welcome. It’s really tempting when you have all of these toys to play with. And this extraordinary idea of a bus chase or a spinning restaurant would be to really indulge yourself and keep pushing the pedal down on that, but I was able to be careful with my musical films — there’s a point where songs can outstay their welcome. Because people get it. They get the emotion. They get the moment you’re going for. And I think action can do that as well.

MW: Totally understandable.

Dexter Fletcher: The action moments I got were a lot longer, and I really cut them down to the bone so that they zip along. Then they’re over before you kind of have a chance to say, ‘Okay, I get it,’ or ‘something new is happening.’ There’s another threat that builds on top of it. I want people to feel excited about these scenes.

Related: Chris Evans’ Best Movies Before Captain America, Ranked

MW: Let’s talk about the great cameos here. Can’t give too much away, but fans of Chris Evans and MCU movies are bound to appreciate the well-known actors popping up here. Whose idea was that?

Dexter Fletcher: The idea came, ‘Hey, we got a chance here to create some cameos. Let’s see what we can do.’ So, Chris picked up his phone as he does, and made some calls. Obviously, as you can see in the film, some of the connections are big. I remember saying, ‘Well, what about this person? Would they do it?’ Then ‘Chris the producer’ made a call and suddenly came back and said, yes.

Dexter Fletcher: It was amazing. It was a little bit of trying our luck, or calling in favors, or just trying to be imaginative about it, and seeing how far we got. The great thing about our industry is that it’s really quite small, really, and everyone understands that making a film is really hard work. And everyone wants to do good do to deliver something memorable and fun for the audience.

Catch Ghosted April 21 on Apple TV+.