Grief can lead to discovery; surprises might even lead to love. Voicemails for Isabelle, starring Zoey Deutch and Nick Robinson, follows a woman named Jill who, to grieve the loss of her late sister, leaves voicemails on her phone number, which is reassigned to a man named Wes. Unbeknownst to Jill, Wes listens to her voicemails and falls for her.
Since the storyline, written by director and actor Leah McKendrick, is unique, fans are wondering whether the movie is based on real-life events.
Find out whether Voicemails for Isabelle is based on a true story here.
How to Watch Voicemails for Isabelle
The film is available to stream on Netflix. It premiered on the streamer on June 19, 2026.
Who Is in the Voicemails for Isabelle Cast?
The cast features Deutch as Jill, Robinson as Wes, Harry Shum Jr. as Andy, Lukas Gage as Arthur, Ciara Bravo as Isabelle and Nick Offerman as Chef Bastien.
McKendrick also appears as Breeda in the film.
Is Voicemails for Isabelle Based on a True Story?
Yes. Voicemails for Isabelle is based on true events, McKendrick said during a June 2026 interview with People. She recalled watching her roommate’s comedy skit about her dad leaving her 20-minute-long voicemails about minor daily tasks.
“Then the next comedian gets on stage and she goes, ‘It’s so nice that your dad calls you. My dad hasn’t called me in three years.’ And everyone’s kind of like, ‘Ooh.’ And then she’s like, ‘He’s dead,’” McKendrick said, adding that she “was the only one that laughed.”
“And then it really got the wheels turning, and I thought to myself, it’s so funny, this idea of a girl who keeps waiting for her dad to call her back,” the multi-talented filmmaker explained. “And then I thought, ‘If my dad dies, I won’t be waiting for him to call me back because my dad doesn’t call me back and he’s alive.’ And then I thought if my sister died, I’d be waiting for her to call me back. And then I thought, no, if my sister died, I would just keep calling her.”
McKendrick’s sister then moved to New York for college, so the writer-director started leaving her “long rambling voicemails” about various topics, like a bad date or “how hard it was to make it in Hollywood and how this town didn’t want me.”
“I would just let it all hang out,” she said. “And what a horror story it could be if somebody were to ever hear my most unfiltered self. But you would know that if somebody fell in love with that unfiltered self, it would be real.”
