Zoey Deutch and Nick Robinson made an unannounced appearance during a June 18 San Francisco fan screening for Netflix’s rom-com “Voicemails for Isabelle,” highlighting the film’s Bay Area setting and its emotional tribute to family, love, and the city that rai
San Francisco moviegoers packed into the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema New Mission on Thursday, June 18, expecting an advance look at Netflix’s new rom-com “Voicemails for Isabelle.” They got more than that.
Actors Zoey Deutch and Nick Robinson surprised the audience hours before the film’s official streaming premiere, walking in with the kind of timing that turns an ordinary screening night into a story people carry home.
“We’re just so happy to be here in San Francisco, the real star of the movie, to be honest,” Deutch told the packed auditorium.
The film centers on Jill (Deutch), an aspiring pastry chef navigating the Bay Area dating scene by leaving voicemails to her late sister, Isabelle. Unknown to Jill, real estate agent Wes (Robinson) has inherited Isabelle’s number—and her voicemail box.
Set to a soundtrack that includes songs like Peggy Lee’s “San Francisco Blues” and a rendition of Journey’s “Lights. ” the movie leans hard into local landmarks. Pier 39 and its sea lions. cable cars and Chinatown appear alongside numerous shots of the Golden Gate Bridge and the city skyline. There’s also the appearance of a San Francisco Giants baseball cap.
“Voicemails for Isabelle” is rated TV-14 and is now streaming on Netflix.
For San Francisco resident Katherine Robinson, who attended the screening with her mother, the city on screen landed in a familiar place. “It’s fun to see all the places you love about the city,” she said.
Director Leah McKendrick—who also plays Breeda in the film—said the focus on San Francisco was intentional. McKendrick. who told the audience her first job was selling ice cream at the Giants’ ballpark. explained that she wanted the city portrayed through the eyes of someone gradually falling in love with it.
Her own upbringing, she said, was shaped by visits to Golden Gate Park and the Japanese Tea Garden. She described the Bay Area as inseparable from her identity. “The Bay made me. The Bay raised me. The Bay Area is everything to me. I don’t know where the Bay ends and I begin. ” McKendrick said. adding that her family remains in the area. including siblings who live just blocks from the Alamo Drafthouse.
She also remembered growing up around the city’s culture as normal rather than rare. “I’m really grateful to be from here, in a city where I grew up going to the drag shows and Bay to Breakers,” she said, referring to San Francisco’s uniquely costume-run 12K walk.
“I mean, there’s so much that I grew up with that I thought was very normal when actually it was a blessing for a kid to grow up in San Francisco,” McKendrick added.
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, who was on hand to introduce McKendrick onstage, said he was proud that a hometown filmmaker decided to showcase the city. “We need more of it,” Lurie said.
McKendrick told the audience she eventually left San Francisco to attend Chapman University in Orange County and pursue her film career. But in reflecting on her childhood, she said, “It wasn’t until I moved out to pursue my Hollywood dreams that I started to see how good I had it.”
That gratitude spilled into something heavier as she spoke to her family in the audience. She later told the Chronicle that it was “such a diverse city” and that the movie showed her that “love has no borders. has no bounds.” Her personal view of that diversity was rooted in her own family: she said her mother is a Nicaraguan immigrant and her dad is an Irish. Scottish Jew who grew up in a San Francisco “hippy commune.”.
“I think we’re all better when we can acknowledge our differences and celebrate our differences,” McKendrick said. She added that she hopes viewers take those ideas with them. “Your people are here, I promise you. Regardless of what kind of weird, you’re going to find it in this city.”
The night ended as it began—with the city center stage, and the cast arriving early enough to make fans feel like they’d been let into something private—before “Voicemails for Isabelle” officially opened on Netflix.
Correction: A previous version of this review misstated the rating for the film. It’s TV-14.
Zoey Deutch Nick Robinson Voicemails for Isabelle Netflix Alamo Drafthouse Cinema New Mission San Francisco movie screening Leah McKendrick Daniel Lurie Golden Gate Bridge Pier 39 cable cars Chinatown TV-14
So basically they just showed up like “hey we’re famous”??
Idk why this is news but SF loves romcoms I guess. Voicemails for a late sister sounds kinda sad for a comedy though.
I was there and it was honestly wild, like the city was the main character. But also… they said the number was inherited? I thought that would mean she got the house or something lol. Anyway Pier 39 + Chinatown on screen was super accurate.
Wait “Voicemails for Isabelle” is streaming already?? I saw the Journey song and figured it was some old Netflix thing. Also Nick Robinson is in it so of course Bay Area people would show up like crazy, he probably lives there. TV-14 doesn’t even mean anything anymore, they put everything on there and call it a day.