Voicemails for Isabelle is a romantic comedy drama following Jill, a grieving woman who copes with the loss of her sister.
Jill is an aspiring pastry chef in San Francisco who struggles to cope with the death of her beloved younger sister, Isabelle. To process her grief, Jill continues leaving long, confessional voicemails on Isabelle’s old phone number, detailing her chaotic life, dating troubles and working struggles. However, Isabelle’s phone number has been reassigned to Wes, a real agent based in Austin, Texas.
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Wes begins listening to Jill’s raw and funny audio diaries, instead of telling her right away that she has the wrong number, he grows deeply attached to her and falls in love with her from afar. Driven by his growing feelings, Wes eventually crossed paths with Jill, struggling with the guilt and awkwardness of how to confess that he knows all her secrets from the intercepted voicemails. Wes wrestles with the right moment to tell the truth, before he can fully confess, Jill attempts to leave a new voicemail for Isabelle and realizes in shock that Wes is the one receiving her private messages.
Feeling violated and angry that Wes kept this secret, Jill leaves him behind. To make matters worse, that same night, her phone goes through an update and she loses the archive of her old voicemails to Isabelle, compounding her grief. At work, after facing unfair treatment and a coworker’s promotion despite major mistakes, she walks out of her job.
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The film navigated the heavy themes of grief, forgiveness and vulnerability. Jill must process the finality of losing her sister’s digital footprint while deciding whether Wes’s accidental intrusion and subsequent genuine love can bridge the gap of trust between them.
Directed by: Leah McKendrick
Cast: Zoey Deutch, Nick Robinson, Ciara Bravo, Harry Shun Jr, Lukas Gage.
Running time: 118 minutes
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