Zoey Deutch and Nick Robinson are basically experts in the romance genre. Both have starred in quite a number of romance-related movies, Deutch has films like Set It Up and Something from Tiffany’s, and Robinson has Everything, Everything and Love, Simon. Deutch is all zany and effusive, while Robinson’s the awkward charming guy. So I already knew I was going to enjoy this movie.
Jill’s (Zoey Deutch) sister Isabelle (Ciara Bravo) has cystic fibrosis. The disease made her world small, but Jill did her best to make it big by letting her sister live vicariously through her. She’s kissing boys and telling Izzy every single detail, she brings a school dance to Izzy while she’s trapped at the hospital. From the title and premise of the film, we know Isabelle’s fate pretty early on, so it’s to the credit of director and screenwriter Leah McKendrick that the relationship feels so real and authentic despite the limited screentime between the sisters.
Voicemails for Isabelle is heartbreaking stuff, but it’s also funny and beautiful. Deutch does a remarkable job of playing a character dealing with the complexity of grief. Her world has been ripped apart, but life has to continue. She’s desperately looking for a life raft so she doesn’t sink to the bottom of her grief. She starts leaving voicemails for Isabelle as a way to cope, however, she doesn’t know that the number has been reallocated to Wes (Nick Robinson). Wes listens to these voicemails and is so charmed by Jill – her audacious humour, her lack of filter. He also feels a connection to her as he too has lost someone close to him. He’s desperate to meet her, so he orchestrates a meet-cute.
Robinson is so great at being a yearner. Wes is always sneaking little glances at Jill, and the pair just get along so well. There’s also heat amidst the yearning; it’s all tastefully sexy. Yet at the same time we’re screaming at Wes: “Tell her! Tell her!” We know the fallout that awaits.
It’s clear that McKendrick knows romance. The characters are frequently name-dropping well-known romance movies like The Notebook, The Fault in Our Stars, You’ve Got Mail. For a millennial like me, Voicemails for Isabelle is like a warm hug. It’s reminiscent of all these wonderful romance movies I grew up with, but it also brings something new to the table. We get all the big romantic declarations (that visual of fireworks in the background while Wes runs through the street will live in my head rent-free for a while) and dance moments set to iconic songs, but these characters aren’t rehashes of ones we’ve seen before. Jill’s struggle is distinctly millennial. She’s slogging it out in a kitchen, working for a temu Gordon Ramsey (the chef is played by Nick Offerman in his most pretentious douchey role to date), and she’s not making any progress. It made me feel so seen.
Voicemails for Isabelle doesn’t take the cheap, easy route when it comes to dreams and reconnections. The movie allows things to be difficult, for both Jill and Wes. They have to dance on their own for a while to figure out what they really want.
Rom-coms live and die on the backs of their supporting characters. We can have leads with tremendous chemistry, but without memorable supporting characters, these movies won’t stand the test of time. Voicemails for Isabelle is loaded with comedic talent. McKendrick and Harry Shum Jr. are hilarious as Breeda and Andy, Wes’ friends who also double as his moral compass, and Bravo does a stellar job of helping us understand Isabelle (and like her) in the short time we spend with her. Lukas Gage is apparently contracted to star in all 2026 Netflix rom-coms – he was also in People We Meet on Vacation – and he’s remarkably funny as the douchebag asshole chef who thinks he’s God’s gift to women.
I laughed a whole bunch, and I cried a whole bunch. To quote the wonderful Emily Henry, “things really suck a lot of the time, but love is the thing that makes this all worth it.” That’s Voicemails for Isabelle in a nutshell.
Review screener provided.
REVIEW SCORE: 4/5
