Some Bay Area moviegoers got more than just a first look at the new Netflix rom-com “Voicemails for Isabelle.”
Actors Zoey Deutch and Nick Robinson made a surprise appearance Thursday, June 18, at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema New Mission for an advance screening hours before the film’s official streaming premiere.
“We’re just so happy to be here in San Francisco, the real star of the movie, to be honest,” Deutch told the audience that packed the auditorium.
The film follows aspiring pastry chef Jill (Deutch) as she navigates her way through the Bay Area dating scene by leaving voicemails to her late sister, Isabelle. Unbeknownst to Jill, real estate agent Wes (Robinson) has inherited Isabelle’s number – and voicemail box.
Guests attend the San Francisco fan screening for the Netflix film “Voicemails for Isabelle” at Alamo Drafthouse Cinema New Mission on Thursday, June 18, 2026 in San Francisco. (Kelly Sullivan/Getty Images for Netflix)
Set to a soundtrack that includes songs like Peggy Lee’s “San Francisco Blues” and a rendition of Journey’s classic “Lights,” the movie features city trademarks such as Pier 39 and its sea lions, cable cars and Chinatown.
There’s also the appearance of a San Francisco Giants baseball cap and, of course, numerous shots of the Golden Gate Bridge and city skyline.
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“Voicemails for Isabelle” (PG-13) is now streaming on Netflix.
“It’s fun to see all the places you love about the city,” said San Francisco resident Katherine Robinson, who attended the screening with her mother.
That focus on the city made Thursday’s screening a particularly special homecoming for San Francisco-raised writer and director Leah McKendrick, who also plays Breeda in the film.
Mayor Daniel Lurie’s onstage appearance to introduce McKendrick also surprised the audience. As a San Francisco native himself, Lurie told the Chronicle he was proud a hometown filmmaker had decided to showcase the city.
“We need more of it,” he said.
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, left, and director Leah McKendrick at the San Francisco fan screening for “Voicemails for Isabelle” at Alamo Drafthouse Cinema New Mission on Thursday, June 18, 2026. (Kelly Sullivan/Getty Images for Netflix)
McKendrick, who said her first job was selling ice cream at the Giants’ ballpark, told the Chronicle she wanted to portray San Francisco through the eyes of someone gradually falling in love with the city. Her own upbringing, she noted, was marked by visits to Golden Gate Park and the Japanese Tea Garden.
“I don’t know where the Bay ends and I begin,” said McKendrick, who added her family remains in the area, with her siblings just blocks from the Alamo Drafthouse.
She eventually left the city to attend Chapman University and pursue her film career, but in reflecting on her childhood, she told the audience, “It wasn’t until I moved out to pursue my Hollywood dreams that I started to see how good I had it.”
That sense of gratitude turned emotional when the director choked up onstage as she acknowledged her family in the audience.
In the theater lobby before the screening, Zandra McKendrick admitted that while “there’s a lot of singing” in the family, she was initially apprehensive about her daughter’s aspirations. Still, she told the Chronicle, Leah’s affinity for the performing arts was apparent from the way she wrote songs and read entertainment magazines at a young age.
“I knew she was going to be somebody important since she was a little girl,” Zandra said.
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This article originally published at Zoey Deutch, Nick Robinson surprise San Francisco moviegoers at Netflix rom-com screening.