Voicemails for Isabelle is not based on a true story, but it borrows heavily from writer-director Leah McKendrick's real life. The Netflix rom-com follows Jill, an aspiring baker grieving her late sister, whose voicemails accidentally land in the inbox of a stranger who slowly falls for her. McKendrick did not invent this premise out of nowhere. A real sister, a real heartbreak, and one unexpected night out shaped the story long before cameras ever rolled.

While Jill and Wes exist only on screen, the sister who inspired their story is very much alive, and her bond with McKendrick changes everything.

Voicemails for Isabelle is not based on a true event, but Leah McKendrick built the character of Isabelle around her real-life younger sister, Olivia Isabelle McKendrick, with the resemblance stopping at affection rather than fate. Olivia is healthy and very much alive, unlike her on-screen counterpart, who does not survive the film. Leah has said her sister taught her what genuine love looks like from a young age. That early lesson, more than any single event, became the emotional spine of the entire screenplay.

The sisters leaned on each other long before Netflix entered the picture. When Leah moved to Los Angeles chasing acting and writing work, long-distance calls with Olivia in New York became a lifeline. Time differences often meant Olivia was asleep when she called, so Leah began leaving lengthy voicemails instead, venting about failed auditions, rough dates, and doubts about her future. Those real messages eventually became the blueprint for Jill's voicemails in the film.

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Those late-night voicemails eventually found their way onto screen, brought to life by a cast built around one very specific joke.

Voicemails for Isabelle stars Zoey Deutch as Jill and Nick Robinson as Wes, the real estate agent who unknowingly receives her messages after her late sister's number is reassigned. Ciara Bravo plays Isabelle, whose absence drives the entire plot forward. The premise itself came from a comedy club night, where one stand-up joke about a father's voicemails, followed by a darker punchline about a father who had passed away, stuck with Leah McKendrick long after the show ended.

McKendrick left that comedy club imagining what she would do if Olivia died, and the answer became the foundation of the entire script. Earlier drafts, first developed at Sony in 2019 with Hailee Steinfeld attached, looked nothing like the final film, though the emotional core never moved. Netflix revived the project in 2025 with McKendrick directing her own screenplay. The romance on screen is invented, but the love that built it is entirely real.

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What are your thoughts on the real inspiration behind Voicemails for Isabelle? Let us know in the comments.