You’ve reached Zoey Deutch (Set It Up) and Nick Robinson (Maid) in Voicemails for Isabelle; please leave a message. The actors return to their rom-com roots with the swoony new movie, now streaming on Netflix.
In the heartwarming tale, written and directed by Leah McKendrick (Scrambled), Jill (Deutch) copes with the loss of her sister, Isabelle (Ciara Bravo), by leaving her voicemails about her chaotic life in San Francisco. When the number is reassigned without her knowledge, Wes (Robinson), an elusive Austin, Texas, real estate agent, begins receiving the hilariously TMI messages. “Voicemails cannot be edited or rewritten,” says McKendrick. “They’re usually messy, awkward, inarticulate — sometimes confessional. Like a stream of consciousness, they always go a little off the rails.”
Dial in to everything there is to know about Voicemails for Isabelle below, including an in-depth debrief on the ending.
When Isabelle’s number gets reassigned after her death, Wes hears Jill complain 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. Eventually, he starts to fall for her — without ever having seen her.
In our instant gratification, social media-driven world, watching a relationship grow across cities is refreshing and reminiscent of cozy rom-com classics like You’ve Got Mail and Sleepless in Seattle. The sight-unseen trope also plays into a universal desire to be heard and seen. “We all want to believe that what makes us most special — most us — is that which cannot be seen,” McKendrick says. “We all contain our own invisible magic cocktail of heart and humor and whimsy and favorite movie quotes.”
Wes is so charmed by Jill’s brazen honesty, he flies to San Francisco to make their one-sided relationship into something so much bigger (and more complicated).
It’s unclear whether the rom-com is based on a true story, but the familial themes still resonate deeply with both cast and crew. Amanda Yamate and Este Haim, who scored the movie, stress how much sisterhood informed their creative process. “Thank God I have my sisters Danielle and Alana to keep me safe,” says Haim, who plays in the rock band HAIM with both her siblings. “How could there not be [HAIM influence on the score]? It runs through my veins.”
Yamate agrees, chiming in on how their real sister impacts their work: “Since Este and I first met Leah and read the script, we’ve just tried to hit the heart and the tone of what it means to love your sister and possibly lose her,” Yamate says. “It was always about hitting that emotion, their most intimate connection. Este has sisters. I have a sister.”
Photographer Madelyn Deutch takes a break from shooting Zoey Deutch and Nick Robinson to pose with her sister in San Francisco’s Chinatown.
Nope! Leah McKendrick’s rom-com is not based on an existing text.
Can’t get Robyn’s “Dancing on My Own” out of your head? Read Tudum’s interview with composers Este Haim and Amanda Yamate (You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah, Do Revenge) and music supervisor Season Kent (People We Meet on Vacation) to learn more about the music in Voicemails for Isabelle.
Alongside Deutch and Robinson are:
Learn more about the cast and who they play with Tudum’s guide.
Yes! Watch the trailer here before diving into the movie.
Soundtracked by Taylor Swift’s “Marjorie,” Wes finds Jill at her bench overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge and pretends to be in town on business — and in search of good Mexican food. Even their rocky introduction — he awkwardly fumbles a few pick-up lines, she goes on a rant about why she had to stop posting feet pics — crackles with chemistry.
Over tacos and bottles of beer, their connection blossoms into something impossible to ignore. But Jill claims to be “boy sober” — and Wes, a Boy Scouts alumnus, swears he would never make a move on his new pal. Jill agrees to show Wes around San Francisco, just as friends.
Cue an irresistible montage throughout the Golden City: Jill and Wes check out some sea lions, take a ride on a merry-go-round at Fisherman’s Wharf, and sample dumplings and heaping cartons of fried rice in Chinatown. It’s during a Golden Gate Giggles city bus tour, clad in Hawaiian shirts and bucket hats, that they finally kiss — to the applause of the other tour members. (Only a pair as charismatic as Deutch and Robinson could make dorky tourist garb on a bus tour look sexy.)
As their dates deepen, Wes starts to panic that he still hasn’t told Jill about the voicemails. Just as things start heating up, he stops himself from sleeping with her and gets the courage to tell the truth — only to find that Jill has fallen asleep to an episode of Top Chef.
Jill travels to Austin, Texas, with Wes for Breeda (McKendrick) and Andy’s (Shum Jr.) wedding and seamlessly blends into his world. But when she sneaks off to call Isabelle and fill her in on the swoonworthy romance, Wes’s jacket pocket rings — exposing his secret.
In shock, Jill ends their relationship immediately. To add salt to the wound, a software update to her phone erases all of her saved voicemails from Isabelle. But the breakup also becomes the catalyst for some other changes Jill’s been needing to make in her life: She opens her own food truck (more on that below), and sets out to realize a lifelong dream.
With some help from his coworker, Wes recovers Jill’s voicemails from Isabelle. He also leaves Jill a voicemail of his own, telling her that he got a new work phone number but will pay for the other line indefinitely so that Jill can leave Izzy messages without anyone eavesdropping. In a desperate last-ditch effort on New Year’s Eve, he tells her to meet him at their favorite Austin locale, José’s. Wes runs through the rain to find her eating tacos, and in a teary moment, he wins her back.
The final scene finds both Jill and Wes calling Isabelle for her blessing — and just like that, the sisters’ special song, “Dancing on My Own,” comes on the radio. Wes even launches into Jill and Izzy’s dance routine, honoring Isabelle and proving he has officially earned a spot in Jill’s life.
Yes. Wes and Jill aren’t the only ones dancing in the finale. In a blink-and-you-miss-it moment (that’s already made some keen-eyed fans online cry), Izzy reappears to dance behind her sister one last time. She may seem so far away, but she’s “still so near.” Jill doesn’t see her standing there, but, as Robyn sings, Izzy “just came to say goodbye.”
As kids, Jill and Isabelle would devour episodes of Top Chef and craft their own sugary recipes inspired by their favorite show. “When Izzy was super sick,” Jill explains to Wes, “they tried to get her to eat, and she’d throw everything up except her favorite: dessert tacos. That’s my specialty.”
So when Jill leaves her job at Flâner, the renowned San Francisco bakery run by the mustachioed Chef Bastien, she decides to strike out on her own with her childhood specialty. Jill & Izzy’s food truck is born. When Jill drops a tortilla and it shatters into chips, she’s inspired to pivot the recipe to dessert nachos.
Now you can enjoy the sweet treat during your watch (or re-watch) of the film. Tudum has the recipe for the truck’s four dessert-nacho offerings: Miso Dreamy, Ube All Day, Fruit of the Gods, and Piña Niña. Hear from the film’s pastry consultant, Daria Andriienko, about how she created the recipes, and how food can connect us to our culture and family, even after they’re gone.
Producers include Todd Black, Becky Sanderman, Jason Blumenthal, and Steve Tisch for Escape Artists. David Bloomfield executive produces for Escape Artists.
Voicemails for Isabelle is now streaming on Netflix.
Continue to fall in love with Deutch and Robinson with the Voicemails for Isabelle bloopers.
Are you chasing how you first felt after finishing Voicemails for Isabelle? Find your next watch on Tudum. Dive into Deutch’s other Netflix rom-coms, Tudum’s romance roundup, and continue your emotional catharsis with this ugly-cry list.
