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Leah McKendrick’s romanticist comedy, Voicemails for Isabelle, follows a look arsenic astir romanticist comedies do, but galore cardinal ingredients had to travel together complete 8 years to scope nan last recipe/product connected Netflix today.
The movie stars Zoey Deutch arsenic Jill, who aspires to beryllium a big-time baker successful San Francisco while she useful arsenic a prep navigator for maniacal Flâner leader Chef Bastien (Nick Offerman). She spins each nan challenges astatine activity and adventures she has successful nan making love world into stories for her sister Isabelle (Ciara Bravo), who has had cystic fibrosis since they were little, calling her astatine each hours to relay her latest news.
But erstwhile Isabelle dies, her telephone number gets reassigned to nan activity compartment of 1 Wes (Nick Robinson), a existent property supplier from Jill’s hometown of Austin, TX who originates to silently cheer Jill connected successful her endeavors, yet visiting her nether nan guise of a activity travel without telling her astir nan technological glitch.
McKendrick’s original book made nan 2019 Black List of screenplays, a study of unproduced projects which are voted astir celebrated by Hollywood executives. It received six votes.
“To me, nan Black List was thing that happened to nan large writers, for illustration nan fancy writers, nan existent writers, and I’ve ever benignant of viewed myself arsenic an character that writes, a vocalist that writes, and truthful I deliberation I had a batch of imposter syndrome surrounding that,” McKendrick recalled. “But I besides knew that I had written consecutive from my heart, and I knew I had written nan movie I wanted to see. It was truthful axenic and truthful authentically maine and my sister. Maybe that’s conscionable really it works, possibly group could conscionable prime up connected that. It was my first rom-com I’d ever written, [it] was ever nan 1 that sewage away. It was ever nan 1 I couldn’t fto spell of, because it was truthful beloved to me, and it was nan first characteristic I ever sold, and had truthful overmuch of my ain DNA successful it.”
Netflix coming connected committee nan project prompted it to transform. The first characteristic book that nan Scrambled director andactress pinch credits successful I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025) and Busboys (2026) ever sold looked very different from nan vanished version. The communicative was primitively group successful Los Angeles and New York.
“Everything I constitute has to beryllium very individual for maine to really beryllium capable to latch on, and I want a metropolis that could beryllium a characteristic nan measurement that it is successful a batch of these rom-coms, for illustration Sleepless successful Seattle. Seattle is simply a main character, there’s a gloominess to it, a wistfulness to it,” she told Deadline almost a week aft nan film’s presence connected nan streamer “When [Netflix] didn’t want LA and New York, 2 towns that I cognize I was like, ‘Oh geez, tin I get my hometown?’ I was very attached to nan iconic locations, specified arsenic Fisherman’s Wharf, Golden Gate Park, nan chair looking complete nan bridge, Battery Spencer [Observation Deck], truthful it was a batch of logistics [to shoot.]”
Hailee Steinfeld was primitively attached successful nan domiciled of Jill, who began arsenic a female navigating a tv writers room pinch a dream to activity astatine Shondaland pinch Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal creator Shonda Rhimes. When McKendrick was fixed nan directing reins, she sought retired Zoey Deutch, who is nary alien to nutrient arsenic a segment partner, from nan pizza she shares pinch Glen Powell successful Set It Up (2018) to her cornetto cravings arsenic a burgeoning baker successful nan Prime Video and Hello Sunshine Christmas movie Something From Tiffany’s (2022).
In Voicemails for Isabelle, though, nan kumquat, “a mini citrus consequence autochthonal to Southeast Asia” provides much of an force than a friend to Jill, who de-seeds and chops up hundreds of them each shift. McKendrick hinted astatine discussions pinch Deutch astir making nan worldly caller and challenging for nan actress.
“The cook thought took maine a infinitesimal because I’m not a chef, and I can’t conscionable telephone thing for illustration that in. So I did a batch of research, and asked Robbeen [Martin],a adjacent friend of my sister’s and a existent pastry cook successful San Francisco, ‘What’s a occupation that would beryllium for illustration culinary waterboarding that could make you spell insane and make you want to quit? Like hazing?’” she said. “He said ‘Kumquats. They’re nan worst.’ He’s like, “Nothing will make you want to discontinue nan culinary world rather for illustration kumquats,’ and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s truthful ocular and beautiful,’ and it doesn’t require a existent cook to understand what that must consciousness like.”
If anything, leaning into definite rom com references provides nan comfortableness and familiarity viewers seek. Said nods to formed members’ past useful are a bonus. Robinson wears a jean overgarment 1 infinitesimal successful statement waiting for Jill’s samples, harkening backmost to his lead domiciled successful Love, Simon (2018).
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“There were a batch of discussions astir wardrobe, for sure, and I don’t want to return in installments for that jacket,” she said. “But location are besides a batch of Easter eggs for illustration that passim nan film, and [viewrs] person caught truthful many, and I’m amazed there’s a mates that haven’t been brought up.”
Whether it beryllium nan niche connection of references to rom coms past aliases much blatant sanction drops for illustration Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan and You’ve Got Mail, McKendrick welcomes comparison to Love, Again (2023) starring Priyanka Chopra, Sam Heughan and musician and emotion guru Céline Dion and streaming connected Hulu.
“I haven’t seen that one. I cognize that it has a akin conceit, and it’s benignant of a occurrence that they some sewage made, but besides there’s akin conceits passim each of rom-coms. “[People are] really latching connected to nan truth that [Voicemails] seems for illustration it’s a romanticist emotion story, and that exists 100%, but really, astatine its core, it’s astir sisterhood, and astatine its halfway it’s astir family, and really our psyche mates are successful a assortment of places. I knew moreover erstwhile I came up pinch nan conception that I wasn’t reinventing nan wheel, but I knew that I, arsenic a filmmaker, had my ain unsocial POV, there’s abstraction for each of us.”
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And though songs from some Taylor Swift and Robyn can beryllium recovered successful different Netflix hit from earlier this year, nan movie adjustment of Emily Henry’s People We Meet On Vacation, nan artists’ songs successful Voicemails are much than conscionable needledrops for McKendrick. She wrote a missive to Taylor Swift for nan usage of “Marjorie” from nan songstress’ medium evermore, successful a segment that aligns nan ballad astir Swift’s precocious grandma to what Jill is going done pinch her sister’s death.
“I constitute a batch of letters. It’s very important to me. I don’t person [alternative]s pinch my music. I constitute my segment to my song. When it’s a database of one, you person nary prime but to conflict and beg,” she said. “I said that to Taylor, I said that to Robyn. I said ‘There’s nary different song.’ When I was astatine nan Eras tour, I cried [to “Marjorie”] holding different Swifties, and it was a belief acquisition for me. I cannot unrecorded without this song, and Netflix knew that arsenic well, and luckily for me, Netflix is simply a bunch of Swifties too, truthful everybody was fighting pinch me, and she was very generous successful giving maine that and New Year’s Day.”
McKendrick made judge to pass nan segment overlay to nan Swift too, to show her reverence.
“Same point pinch Robyn, I made her a deck, I wrote her a letter. I deliberation she was my first missive that I wrote, because correct disconnected nan bat we needed to choreograph nan dance, truthful location was a batch of activity that needed to beryllium put successful instantly pinch with ‘Dancing On My Own,’” she said. “So I made her a deck, I wrote her a letter, and I explained, ‘This isn’t for illustration a needle drop. This is simply a character. You are a characteristic successful my film. It’s not conscionable a song, it is Robyn.
“I really do deliberation that musicians, they’re artists for illustration me, I americium a filmmaker. It’s a beautiful narration because I’m a instrumentality of theirs, conscionable for illustration nan audience, and I want to springiness my assemblage nan astir epic cinematic experience, and that involves music,” she added.
As galore viewers person pointed out, McKendrick’s fingerprints are each complete nan movie successful much ways than one. Not only is she head and writer, but she besides appears arsenic Breeda, who tells Wes to tally to Jill successful nan rainfall astatine nan extremity of nan movie.
“It was meta for sure. I wrote Breeda 8 years ago, and erstwhile I wrote her, I was not like, ‘Oh, I’m gonna play this role,’ because she was getting married. That was ever portion of nan script. And backmost then, I was nan azygous girl. That felt truthful big to me,” McKendrick said. “But successful existent life, I ended up getting joined 2 weeks aft we wrapped. It was really typical to beryllium capable to present that line, and besides to conscionable beryllium successful nan world pinch my characters arsenic a writer-director, I deliberation it’s 1 of nan astir satisfying parts of wearing each nan hats.”
The cherry connected apical mightiness beryllium nan truth that Ciara Bravo did not get a rehearsal for nan Robyn creation series that closes nan film.
“The sun was going down, and arsenic soon arsenic [that happens] nan footage looks wholly different, you’re moving retired of time, we person a bunch of inheritance [dancers]. Zoe’s dancing, Nick’s dancing. It was truthful chaotic,” McKendrick remembered, fingers pressed to her temples. “ [Ciara] flew out, learned nan dance, came to set, and I gave her 1 take. It was nan last return of nan day. We did it once, and past I was like, ‘And that’s a cut.’ It’s a small spot of a fever dream, and it was precisely what I needed, and Ciara was conscionable thrown into nan heavy extremity and delivered for illustration nan fable that she is.”
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Next up, McKendrick has a Shania Twain biopic successful nan works astatine Sony Pictures.
“I deliberation nan astir important point erstwhile you’re bringing an icon’s communicative to nan surface is that you person a deep, axenic emotion for them, and that you spot them arsenic a quality being, a well-rounded quality being, beyond being an icon and a legend,” she said of nan project. “I conscionable emotion Shania Twain, I emotion Eileen, nan female down Shania Twain, and I consciousness very adjacent to her, not conscionable because I grew up idolizing her, but because I’m a vocalist myself and [I came] up successful a business that’s really for illustration nan chaotic west, I person nan utmost respect for her, and I consciousness protective of her story. I want it to beryllium done pinch nan astir nuance and pathos and reverence. I’m fresh for nan challenge. I deliberation it’s going to present for each nan hardcore fans retired there, for illustration myself, and for group that don’t cognize her story, I deliberation it’s gonna rustle their tits correct off.”
