Does 'Voicemails For Isabelle' Have A Happy Ending?
Pressing play on a movie that isn't inspired by a book and one where you don't know the outcome of the relationship isn't for the faint of heart romance aficionados. It's certainly not for those who find anything health-related to be triggering, either. But Netflix does something incredibly surprising with its latest original film, Voicemails for Isabelle (2026), and despite how many tissues you'll go through, it's a worthy one to watch.
Starring Nick Robinson and Zoey Deutch, the film sells us with its casting first and foremost. Robinson's return to rom-coms since Love, Simon (2018) is something countless fans have been begging for, and Deutch is too good in Set It Up (2018) for us not to get more of her as a romantic lead. And in Voicemails for Isabelle, both actors not only give us the comedic beats, but they deliver heart in every scene, making the endgame feel that much more earned.
'Voicemails For Isabelle' Isn't For The Faint-Hearted
If you're the type of viewer who's generally triggered by health-related content on TV and movies that involve character deaths, it's worth knowing exactly what you're walking into with Voicemails For Isabelle. The film opens up with us seeing a close sisterly bond between Deutch's Jill and her sister Isabelle (played by Ciara Bravo and Iris Everly in two different timelines). Right from the start, it shows us that Isabelle is going through something chronic that we later learn is cystic fibrosis.
Often, when the romance genre explores any kind of health issue that can lead to a character's passing, we don't actively read about it or see it on our screens. Yet, the movie gives us countless glimpses of Isabelle, making her death ten times more heartbreaking because we've gotten to know her. At the same time, because the movie actively shows us their closeness and allows us to understand just how much the sisters mean to each other, Jill's voicemails become that much harder to hear.
After Isabelle passes, Jill consistently leaves her messages recounting all her bad dates and random tidbits about her day. With this, the movie is equal parts a romance and an exploration of all the ways grief never leaves us. Despite it being so hard to watch—seriously, I cried so much I debated turning it off—it's worth watching the journey Jill goes on to heal. In more ways than one, the way she honors their sisterhood floored me, and at one point, Deutch's performance left me in shambles because, as she exclaims to Wes, the voicemails were never her means to connect with someone else but rather a desperate plea to have her sister back.
Do Jill And Wes End Up Together In 'Voicemails For Isabelle?'
Ultimately, as tough as it is to watch the movie, the second that Isabelle's old phone number is transferred to Wes' new work phone, little moments become easier to sit with. The way that Robinson plays off of Wes' initial shock and his fascination with the voicemails could've come across as a bit creepy, but instead, it's incredibly wholesome to see how they start to affect him, too.
As a true rom-com, the two of them get off on the wrong foot, and he naturally keeps the truth about how he found her in the first place a secret. Still, as we watch them fall in love organically while the secret of the phone calls looms over them, it makes the tension that much more agonizing and simultaneously, riveting.
While we're in the trenches, it's easy to fear that maybe they won't end up together because Wes keeping the voicemails from her is too big a breaking point for them to come back from. Yet, part of what makes their happy ending stick the landing is that enough time passes where their old wounds heal a little bit.
Plus, his love confession, "I love you in a very uncool, desperate, all-consuming kind of way," might just be my new favorite because nothing about it is overly poetic. It's just raw and unfiltered, which is exactly what you want from a grand gesture love declaration. The simplest words always evoke so much, and they bring Wes' heart and intentions full circle.
Movies like Voicemails for Isabelle require that non-hopeless romantics suspend quite a bit of disbelief to accept the narrative that's anchored to divine interventions and signs of sorts. It's a sweet, ridiculously modern-day nod to You've Got Mail in a way that effectively brings two people together who may not have connected otherwise if it weren't for a simple number transfer and a woman's longing to continue holding onto her sister. So, in short, while it'll make you bawl your eyes out, Wes and Jill's happy ending makes the pain worth every minute.
