A romantic comedy that spent years waiting for its moment has suddenly become one of Netflix’s biggest titles worldwide. The film’s rise is notable because it arrives after several other Netflix titles had already dominated the platform in recent weeks. Maternal Instinct previously held the No. 1 spot for two full weeks, while Little Brother and The Killer have also remained strong performers (via FlixPatrol).
Against that backdrop, the rise of Voicemails for Isabelle, written and directed by Leah McKendrick, gives Netflix a new word-of-mouth romance at a time when lighter, character-driven films often have to fight for attention. The movie is also performing well with viewers and critics. Voicemails for Isabelle currently has a 7.4 rating on IMDb and an 84% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, a solid response for a streaming rom-com built around emotional intimacy.
Netflix’s New No. 1 Rom-Com Has A Long Hollywood Backstory
Voicemails for Isabelle builds its romance out of an act of grief that was never meant to be heard. Jill, played by Zoey Deutch, cannot quite stop talking to her late sister. She keeps calling Isabelle’s old number, using the voicemail box as a private place for grief, jokes, and confessions. Only it isn’t private anymore: The number now belongs to Wes, played by Nick Robinson, and the messages slowly turn a stranger into someone who feels unusually close.
The setup gives Voicemails for Isabelle a high-concept hook, but its origins are more personal. McKendrick told Forbes that the story came from her own feelings about sisterhood, saying, “It was based on a love for the fact that my sister taught me how to love. And she taught me how to identify true love in the world. And when you have a soul mate, from four years old, when my sister was born, you know what that looks like. You know what that feels like, and what it doesn’t feel like.” She added:
“It’s my love letter to sisterhood, even the sisters that we choose.”
McKendrick wrote the script more than seven years before the movie’s Netflix debut. The project first became public in 2019, when The Hollywood Reporter announced that Sony had picked up the spec script. At that point, Hailee Steinfeld was attached to star, and Bridget Jones’s Diary director Sharon Maguire was set to direct. The script’s industry reputation grew later that year when it landed on the 2019 Black List, the annual list spotlighting admired but unproduced screenplays. Still, like many buzzy spec scripts, Voicemails for Isabelle didn’t immediately make it to cameras. The project stalled, and McKendrick moved on to other work, including the 2017 thriller M.F.A., the 2023 indie comedy-drama Scrambled, and story work on Sony’s I Know What You Did Last Summer.
The version that eventually arrived on Netflix looks different from the one first announced in 2019, but it’s found a clear lead in Deutch. Her turn as Jill brings the film a familiar rom-com anchor, especially after her work in Set It Up, Zombieland: Double Tap, and Netflix’s The Politician. The rest of the cast includes Nick Robinson as Wes, Ciara Bravo as Isabelle, Nick Offerman as Chef Bastien, Lukas Gage as Arthur, Harry Shum Jr. as Andy, Leah McKendrick as Breeda, Toby Sandeman as Tyler, and Gil Bellows and Tanis Dolman as Mr. and Mrs. Shaw.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
