Voicemails for Isabelle (2026) has touched many viewers since its release. The romantic film is praised for its combination of humor, love and sadness, with the emotional story surrounding the loss of a sister particularly impressive. What many viewers don’t know is that the Netflix hit was written more than seven years ago and almost never got made. Director and screenwriter Leah McKendrick recently revealed how personal the story is to her and why she almost said goodbye to Hollywood.
Close bond with sister
Although the story revolves around Jill who continues to leave voicemail messages on her old telephone number after her sister’s death, the idea arose from a completely different situation. McKendrick says her own sister Olivia Isabelle was the main inspiration for the script. According to the filmmaker, her sister taught her what true love and connection mean. She wanted to capture that special bond in a story about loss, but especially about the people who shape us. She describes herself Voicemails for Isabelle therefore also as a love letter to sisterhood.
Almost out of Hollywood
The idea for the film Voicemails for Isabelle arose during a comedy evening. A joke about a deceased parent who never returns phone calls got McKendrick thinking. Not much later she realized that she would probably continue to call her own sister if she were no longer there. Despite her successful career, with films like I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025) in Scrambled (2023) to her name, the filmmaker was recently about to turn her back on Hollywood. For years she wrote screenplays for major studios, but many of those projects eventually disappeared into a drawer. She also saw how two of her projects were cut off. That was the moment she decided to stop waiting for permission from others. She wanted to make films herself again instead of just writing scripts. That choice ultimately turned out to be the right one. Didn’t become alone Voicemails for Isabelle was still realized, but the film has now become one of the most talked about romantic productions of the moment.
Beeld: Still ‘Voicemails for Isabelle’ via Netflix/Diyah Pera
