Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s ‘Voicemails for Isabelle‘ is a romantic comedy-drama film that follows two people connected by a voicemail. Jill is grieving her recently deceased sister, Isabelle, and to stay connected to her, she sends voicemails to her number. She doesn’t know that the number now belongs to a guy named Wes, who falls in love with her while listening to her messages. As their paths align, Jill and Wes find their perfect romantic partner in each other, but a happy ending doesn’t come so easily to them. Directed by Leah McKendrick, the film balances the fairytale romance with the reality of falling in love, adding more depth to the characters. SPOILERS AHEAD.
The Fictional Voicemails for Isabelle is Inspired by the Director’s Love for Her Sister
‘Voicemails for Isabelle’ is a fictional story written by Leah McKendrick. While the film’s primary focus is on Jill and Wes’ romance, the story’s idea came from McKendrick’s love for her sister, Olivia. When McKendrick moved to Los Angeles to become a writer and an actress, she had regular conversations with her sister, who lived in New York. It was a rough time for her, and these chats helped her process everything and stay motivated to follow her dreams.
Due to the difference in time zones, sometimes Olivia would already be asleep when her sister called her. So, McKendrick started leaving her long voicemails, detailing everything about her day. She would talk about everything, the bad auditions to the weird dates she went on. In particular, she vented about her dejection over where her life was headed and her doubts about her dreams, which she thought might never come true. The voicemails helped her get through the difficult times, and they gave her the idea about a character who sends voicemails to their sister.
Fortunately, McKendrick’s sister is alive and well, but to give more emotional gravity to Jill’s story, Isabelle had to be deceased. In its earlier drafts, ‘Voicemails for Isabelle’ was closer to McKendrick’s life. Instead of being a baker, as she is in the movie, Jill was a screenwriter working in television and trapped in an all-male writer’s room where she is neither heard nor appreciated. By the final version of the script, a lot of changes had been made to the story. However, its core remained the same.
Voicemails for Isabelle is More Than a Story About Romantic Love
While ‘Voicemails for Isabelle’ is touted as a rom-com, its heart and soul don’t lie in the idea of romantic love. Leah McKendrick noted that the society’s singular focus on romantic love has put other equally important relationships on the back burner. She wanted to explore the importance of the love a person receives from their siblings and friends, something that cannot be found in one’s partner, even if they are soulmates. She credits her love and bond with her sister as the thing that helped her understand what true love is, and that’s what reflects in Jill and Isabelle’s relationship, even after Isabelle is gone.
In making the film, McKendrick wanted to pay a nod to the classics like ‘You’ve Got Mail’ and ‘Sleepless in Seattle,’ which were more character driven that some might give them credit for. At the same time, she wanted to break away from the stereotypes that are staple in the genre to present a fresh take on what it means to find love. At the end of the day, the film is just as much, if not more, about the love for one’s family and the grief of losing someone close to them as it is about the desire to find one’s soulmate.
Read More: Where Was Voicemails for Isabelle Filmed?
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