Title: Voicemails for Isabelle
MPA Rating: TV-14
Director: Leah McKendrick
Starring: Zoey Deutch, Nick Robinson, Ciara Bravo
Runtime: 1 hr 58 mins
What It Is: Jill (Deutch) has been best friends with her chronically ill sister Isabelle (Bravo) for the entirety of their lives together. When Isabelle passes away in their hometown of Austin, TX, Jill is in San Francisco trying to make her life happen. Now Jill’s only outlet to her sister is to call her phone number and leave her voicemails. Real estate agent Wes (Robinson) happens to have Isabelle’s phone number as his work device. So as all of these odd and strange messages begin flooding his inbox Wes must know who this mystery woman is spilling her guts to an inbox she doesn’t think anyone has access to.
What We Think: This is an absolutely phenomenal modern romantic comedy. I loved this. Zoey Deutch is a marvel here. She has to carry the emotional weight of everything and she does so stunningly. Leah McKendrick spreads a little bit of magic on this and whatever she did behind the lens worked. It’s lovingly paced and the cinematographer deserves a ton of credit. This is one of the better romantic comedies of the year. I’d say it’s pushing In Spite of Ourselves for that crown. Might rewatch both just to confirm.
Our Grade: A, What a great film. I cannot stress enough how rare this is. A romantic comedy that debuted on Netflix that lives up to its hype. I can say without any doubt that you all need to see this! Do it. But just a warning for when you do…bring the tissues. I want more from this director and of course from Zoey Deutch who continues to kill it! For me she’s on an absolute roll. Its easy accessibility means everyone should flip this on, because I said so!