'Voicemails for Isabelle' director Leah McKendrick on the true story that inspired her rom-com

Voicemails for Isabelle is calling, and Leah McKendrick wants you to answer.

McKendrick wrote and directed the new Netflix rom-com, which became the #1 film in the U.S. during its first weekend on the streaming service. She spoke to ABC Audio just ahead of the film's release, where she said romantic comedies raised her.

"Longing has been a big theme in my life. Longing for my career, longing for love. And I think for a longing girl, a rom-com is her genre," McKendrick said. "I believe that rom-coms are for everybody, but I think the girls really own that. And are unabashed about it."

The rom-com follows a young chef named Jill (Zoey Deutch), who copes with the loss of her sister and best friend, Isabelle (Ciara Bravo), by leaving her voicemails describing her chaotic life.

McKendrick says the idea for this story came from her relationship with her own sister.

"My little sister is my first love and true love, and I feel like she's the one that taught me what that even looks like," McKendrick said. "When she was in college in New York and I was struggling for my dreams in LA, I would call her and leave these rambling voicemails."

The voicemails featured McKendrick "crying about the job I didn't get, the guy that I went on a bad date with or boy problems" — the list goes on and on.

"It's really hard to curate a voicemail. I think it's a stream of consciousness, especially if you're talking to your sister," McKendrick said. "I just thought, 'I want a love story where a man falls in love with her for her heart and not for the way that she looks or the boxes that she checks or the chemistry that they have when they meet.' It's just really just him witnessing her."

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.