‘Voicemails For Isabelle’ Review

Netflix continues in the romcom business, sometimes getting it right, sometimes getting it wrong.

Despite its Number One stature on the streamer’s viewing charts for the past two weeks, I think the higher profile Jennifer Lopez/Brett Goldstein “romantic” comedy, Office Romance, failed largely not just because of its tonally off-balance crudeness mixed with a desire to be a traditional romcom, but simply because its two leads had little believable chemistry on screen. It all seemed manufactured. They got that one wrong.

On the other hand, right on its heels, comes Voicemails For Isabelle, a romcom baked in some of the most predictable tropes imaginable for the genre, yet one that rises above the familiar with the sheer delight of the chemistry between its two stars, the magnetic Zoey Deutch (Nouvelle Vague) and the ever-reliable Nick Robinson (Love, Simon). Here, they get it right.

Under the guidance of writer/director Leah McKendrick the premise is all about voicemail mixups as its key device. It bears genuine similarity to 2023’s Love Again (based on the 2016 German film Smc Fur Dich) which did it with texts, and itself slyly acknowledges a debt to Nora Ephron’s 1998 You’ve Got Mail which successfully managed to create genuine chemistry between its stars Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan through the device of Emails (an update of the 1939 classic The Shop Around The Corner which did it with old fashioned handwritten letters). So we’ve seen it all before whether as letters, emails or texts, now voicemails, but it still works, at least in this case. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. All that stuff.

Jill (Deutch) and her sister Isabelle (Ciara Bravo), the latter dealt a raw deal with cystic sibrosis and sickliness since a young child, shared a room and a life, always besties despite those hard times for Isabelle. They also rabidly shared voicemails back and forth, a new age way of communicating when not together. Life however gets in the way and finally Isabelle succumbs to her fate, leaving Jill devastated but still hanging on to those voicemails, and now continuing to call Izzy’s cell number and leave more, as if she were still alive to hear them. It is a way of coping with unimaginable loss, a way to never say goodbye. But here comes the “meet cute” part of the romcom of it all. Those messages are being inadvertently intercepted by the new inheritor of Izzy’s old number, a real estate executive named Wes (Robinson) who finds himself increasingly intrigued and a bit smitten by Jill’s voicemails. He actually sets off to San Francisco on a “work trip” to find her.

Wes is endlessly frustrated by his own dead end relationships, but he has a hunch that there might be something there. Jill also has gotten herself into bed with a bunch of losers, notably a colleague in her culinary class, the obnoxious and narcissistic Arthur (Lukas Gage) who not only tries to one up her on the stove, but is convinced he is Mr. Right. Wrong. Jill is an aspiring food guru, lover of Top Chef, and has put herself through hell in this internship run by the over-the-top Chef Bastien (Nick Offerman) who, for all his lack of subtlty, might as well be Louis Gossett Jr.’s drill sergeant in An Officer And A Gentleman. This workplace drama is a frequent stopoff for comedic interludes in McKendrick’s screenplay which mostly focuses on the budding romance of Jill and Wes, the latter never admitting to her that he has been listening to all those voicemails, intensely private and somewhat embarrassing at times if anyone ever discovered what she is doing. But it is all for the love of Izzy, and McKendrick expertly manages the shifting tones her between broad comedy, sweet romance, and genuine pathos.

As she sits alone on a bench watching the gorgeous skyline of the city by the bay, Jill even suggests how great it would be if the fantasy guy were to just show up and sit next to her. Lo and behold in pure Ephronian fashion Wes does. However she tries to resist in every way, but thanks to his homework he knows the exact place she likes to eat, so he uses it to instantly land an informal date on the spot. Still determined to stay away from men, she keeps her distance. However while with Wes on a sightseeing bus tour of the city she becomes smitten just by his pure chutzpah in taking over on the spot from the hapless guide, all culminating in leading a group singalong to “I Left My Heart In San Francisco”. This sequence is worth the price of admission , or in this case subscription. All this time Wes is getting the courage to tell her the truth, but never quite makes it there. Any even mild student of the romcom formula can tell you where this is all going, so I don’t need to continue with any further plot revelations.

But what this charmer of a film has that keeps us engaged, if not originality, is the couple at the center of it all. We root for them, even when it all seems hopeless. Deutch, so great as Jean Seberg in Richard Linklater’s valentine to Godard, Nouvelle Vague, runs the gamut of emotions in this one, a performance that works on every level, a knockout that qualifies her a spot in the romcom hall of fame alongside Julia Roberts, Kate Hudson, and Meg Ryan. Robinson also has great appeal, perfectly balancing a role that might come across as more cynical in other hands, but he nails it. Together they are winning. Though her role is small, Bravo as the title character creates such a strong and heartbreaking impression with just a few scenes that we totally believe her sister just could not find another way to let her go. Harry Shum Jr. and McKendrick taking on a role in addition to directing, nicely play an engaged couple and friends to Wes who encourage him through his best and worst moments.

San Francisco is, and always has been , the perfect backdrop for romance and continues its stellar reputation as one of the great movie cities.

Producers are Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, Becky Sanderman, Steve Tisch.

Title: Voicemails for Isabelle

Distributor: Netflix

Release date: June 19, 2026 (streaming)

Director-screenwriter: Leah McKendrick

Cast: Zoey Deutch, Nick Robinson, Ciara Bravo, Nick Offerman, Lukas Gage, Harry Shum Jr. , Megan Danso, Toby Sandeman, Gil Bellows, Leah McKendrick, Tanis Dolman

Rating: TV-14

Running time: 1 hr, 58 mins