A High-Concept Connection Born from Grief
The film starts by anchoring the unbreakable, lifelong bond between sisters Jill (Zoey Deutch) and Isabelle Shaw (Ciara Bravo), who grew up in Austin, Texas, sharing everything from childhood rooms to a fierce love of Top Chef. Tragically, Isabelle passes away from complications related to cystic fibrosis, leaving Jill entirely unmoored.
Now living in San Francisco and struggling as an aspiring pastry chef under the tyrannical, exacting Chef Bastien (Nick Offerman), Jill copes with her profound grief by doing the only thing that feels natural: she keeps calling Isabelle’s old phone number, leaving a steady stream of long, raw, and hilariously chaotic voicemails.
┌──────────────────────┐ ┌──────────────────────┐
│ JILL SHAW │ │ WES (Austin) │
│ (In San Francisco) │ │ (Enigmatic Agent) │
└──────────┬───────────┘ └──────────▲───────────┘
│ │
│ Leaves vulnerable, │ Receives the wrong-number
│ raw, & chaotic │ messages and falls for
│ voicemails... │ her voice from afar.
└────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Isabelle's Reassigned Number
Unbeknownst to Jill, the cell phone provider has already reassigned the number to Wes (Nick Robinson), an enigmatic real estate agent based back in Austin. As Wes listens to Jill’s deeply vulnerable messages—detailing everything from her terrible workplace dynamics and disastrous dating horror stories to her exhaustive quest to locate a decent breakfast taco in San Francisco—he finds himself utterly charmed. Sight unseen, he begins falling in love with the voice on the other side of the line.
Messy, Analog Romance in a Digital World
At its core, Voicemails for Isabelle acts as a refreshing love letter to unedited, stream-of-consciousness communication. In a social media-driven era where every text and caption can be curated, drafted, and deleted, the film leans into the awkward, inarticulate beauty of a voice message. As director Leah McKendrick puts it:
“Voicemails cannot be edited or rewritten. They’re usually messy, awkward, inarticulate — sometimes confessional. Like a stream of consciousness, they always go a little off the rails.”
The film masterfully balances its underlying melancholy with sharp, effervescent humor, boasting a powerhouse comedic ensemble that includes Lukas Gage (as Jill’s coworker Arthur), Harry Shum Jr. (as Andy), Megan Danso, Toby Sandeman, Spencer Lord, and Gil Bellows. The off-screen chemistry was reportedly so electric that McKendrick joked that if the set were a middle school classroom, Gage and Deutch would have to be separated for laughing too much.
Wes hears Jill gripe about her exacting boss, Chef Bastien (Nick Offerman), relay dating horror stories, and lament her never-ending search for a breakfast taco in San Francisco, and he starts to fall for her, sight unseen. In our technology-addicted, social media-driven world, watching a relationship grow through voicemails, cities apart, is refreshing and reminiscent of cozy rom-com classics like You’ve Got Mail and Sleepless in Seattle. “Voicemails cannot be edited or rewritten,” says writer-director Leah McKendrick. “They’re usually messy, awkward, inarticulate — sometimes confessional. Like a stream of consciousness, they always go a little off the rails.”
Voicemails for Isabelle is a rare blend of humor, romance, and some more tender moments, with Isabelle’s tragic death as the film’s bittersweet catalyst for love. The movie is just as silly as it is sweet, as Robinson and Deutch’s characters’ core romance is offset by some comedy legends and buzzy new actors like Offerman, Lukas Gage, Harry Shum Jr., Bravo, Megan Danso, Toby Sandeman, Spencer Lord, and Gil Bellows. Having this many funny people on set comes with its own risks, however: “If this were middle school,” says McKendrick, “Lukas and Zoey would have to be separated. They make each other laugh uncontrollably.”
And while Voicemails for Isabelle primarily charts Jill and Wes’s love story in the present, it’s just as much about the love between siblings and the enduring power of sisterhood. Jill and Isabelle have been best friends since they shared a bedroom as kids, sharing everything from first kiss mishaps to dessert recipes and, above all else, a love of Top Chef.
A Story of Sibling Love and Self-Discovery
While the romantic tension between Deutch and Robinson drives the central plot, the true soul of the film belongs to the enduring power of sisterhood. Jill’s journey is just as much about learning to process her heartbreak and honor Isabelle’s memory as it is about finding love.
When the romance inevitably faces a dramatic third-act hurdle—sparked by Jill discovering that Wes has been secretly harboring her private messages—it is the lasting legacy of her sister’s love, along with an unexpected gift from her parents, that gives Jill the courage to bet on herself. She channels that strength into a brilliant creative pivot, launching her own dessert nacho food truck named Jill and Izzy’s.
Earning a strong 84% critical score on Rotten Tomatoes, Voicemails for Isabelle succeeds because it refuses to sanitize the messiness of human emotion. It reminds audiences that what makes us most special is the invisible, magic cocktail of heart, whimsy, and vulnerability that we carry inside—even when we’re just talking to a dial tone.
Voicemails for Isabelle has a runtime of 118 minutes and is currently available to stream worldwide on Netflix.
