Netflix viewers call out ‘creepy’ storyline with major danger behind hit rom-com dominating the charts

Voicemails for Isabelle has become a word-of-mouth sensation, making it one of Netflix’s most well-liked original films this year.

However, a growing sense of alarm over its storyline has now dented its popularity, with an expert even calling it ‘very dangerous’ for the way it romanticises its central storyline.

Fans have been calling it ‘an instant classic’ and ‘absolutely beautiful’, while excitedly announcing that rom-coms are ‘so back’ in the two-and-a-half weeks since its release.

Voicemails for Isabelle still has a tight grip on the Netflix charts, slipping into second place only behind Millie Bobby Brown’s Enola Holmes 3 on its opening weekend, and after reaching number one in 73 other countries alongside the UK.

But as the initial clamour began to die down, another view has quietly begun to emerge – and one that recognised the potential hazard of the film.

‘Unpopular opinion: Voicemails for Isabelle wasn’t romantic. It was creepy,’ tweeted Yomi, as one example among the many that slowly built on social media.

The movie sees baker Jill (genre queen Zoey Deutch) coping with her sister Isabelle’s (Ciara Bravo) death by leaving lengthy voicemails for her, chronicling her days and revealing all manner of secrets, alongside her innermost thoughts and desires.

But Isabelle’s old number has now been reassigned to estate agent Wes (Love, Simon star Nick Robinson), who accidentally gets a front row seat to Jill’s life and soon starts to fall for her as he finds out more about her.

While on the one hand this could sound dreamy and romantic – of course we all hope to be seen and loved for exactly who we are, as well as not being judged by our looks (shades of You’ve Got Mail) – other viewers were having a harder time suspending their disbelief.

The Guardian’s review of it even acknowledged the ‘fine line between romantic comedy and creepy thriller’, and accused the film of trying to excuse how ‘unsettling its premise is’ by winking at itself through jokes.

‘He learns intimate details about her life, her routines, her pain, and her vulnerabilities. Then he uses that information to work his way into her world. And somehow, I’m supposed to find this romantic?’ added Yomi on X, who pointed out that the ‘normal thing to do’ would have been for Wes to call Jill and let her know this was now his number, rather than ‘build[ing] a connection based on information she never knowingly shared with him’.

‘Take away the attractive actors, the music and the happy ending, and this starts sounding a lot less like a love story and a lot more like stalking,’ she suggested.

Voicemails for Isabelle also became a hot topic of conversation in the Metro newsroom as well, as lifestyle reporter Charlie Sawyer shared: ‘I’m a self-proclaimed hopeless romantic but I thought the entire thing was desperately creepy and invasive. Lying like that is never sexy – it’s totally psychotic and I would have run a mile if I were in her shoes.’

‘As a rom-com lover and a fan of Zoey in them (Set It Up is an all-timer), I’ve actually avoided Voicemails for Isabelle because it looked so creepy,’ admitted live news reporter Danni Scott, who said the storyline didn’t feel like ‘a modern plot’.

I thought the entire thing was desperately creepy and invasive

Meanwhile, senior TV reporter Asyia Iftikhar struggled with feeling uncomfortable throughout the film.

‘The scene where he goes to the bench after secretly listening to her voicemail made my skin crawl. I really had to take off my ‘normal behaviour’ hat to get through this one,’ she added.

And that’s an important point to make: rom-com is a genre that’s often filled with the kind of tropes and heightened scenarios that wouldn’t play well in normal life; fans want to suspend their disbelief and be swept along by the fantasy, that’s a large part of their appeal.

‘Him following her without her knowledge is of course completely creepy,’ agreed sub-editor Jenny Forsyth. ‘But I also somehow found it quite romantic that he was that desperate to be with her. What a rom-com sucker I must be!’

Fan Izzy on X also confessed that she ‘kinda need[s] my rom-coms to be borderline problematic’.

‘I get it’s not for everyone, but I don’t need characters to be flawless. The stakes need to be higher. The reason why the couple is apart needs to feel BIG. MESSY. Sue me, I liked it!’

I get it’s not for everyone, but I don’t need characters to be flawless. Sue me, I liked it!

However, writer-director Leah McKendrick has previously explained that Voicemails for Isabelle was inspired by her relationship with her own sister, rather than any man, and how a stand-up routine about leaving phone messages made her realise she would call her own sibling every day if she died.

‘It was based on a love for the fact that my sister taught me how to love. And she taught me how to identify true love in the world. And when you have a soul mate, from four years old, when my sister was born, you know what that looks like,’ she revealed to Forbes.

But criminal behaviour analyst Laura Richards, a self-professed lover of a good rom-com, is convinced that Wes’s behaviour was ‘not cute or romantic’ at all, but instead would constitute stalking.

‘He listened to deeply personal messages of a grieving woman and exploited her vulnerability for his own gain. That is not okay. There was a power imbalance from the start,’ she tells Metro.

‘The fact he got on a plane and turned up on her bench – her special spot that was remote and isolated – and played into her specific romantic fantasy of meeting the right guy on this bench was not only exploitative, it was creepy, alarming and could have been extremely dangerous for Jill.’

Richards, who previously served at New Scotland Yard and is an expert on domestic violence, stalking, sexual violence, homicide and risk assessment, also argues that Wes ‘wore her down with his ‘too good to be true’ behaviour’. Staying locally to woo her thanks to the intimate details he knew about her should have raised red flags to viewers.

‘Wes was a charming, good-looking guy who used those things to his advantage to love bomb Jill, gaslight her and make her fall in love with him. It was a strategic campaign to win her heart – and it worked. The movie romanticises these deeply troubling behaviours.’

Richards also makes the important point that, without the Hollywood handsomeness and charm, Wes almost certainly wouldn’t have succeeded in his courtship, and his behaviour would have been recognised as ‘sinister and alarming’. Meanwhile, an attractive and charming stalker who love bombs you is still a stalker and can still pose danger.

When Jill finds out about Wes’s deception, she is initially mortified, feeling betrayed, hurt and alarmed by the fact this seemingly perfect guy had tricked her and exploited her grief and vulnerability. Wes was shown as being conflicted over not confessing at the first opportunity (and his friends tell him it’s weird), but he still fails to do so.

It’s very dangerous to romanticise it using good-looking Hollywood stars

‘In the movie, the reaction was from the gut – and it was the right one,’ praises Richards. ‘Unfortunately, she then got back together with him. This again is the wrong message to send girls and women – and stalkers.’ 

Richards, who is also the founder of Paladin, the UK’s National Stalking Advocacy Service, and host of the Crime Analyst podcast, adds: ‘It’s also no basis or foundation for a healthy relationship. Full stop. This isn’t romantic. It’s stalking. It’s very dangerous to romanticise it using good-looking Hollywood stars. 

‘This level of fixation and obsession often results in serious harm including psychological harm and sometimes murder. There’s nothing romantic or cute about that.’

Of course that won’t have been McKendrick’s intention, and Voicemails for Isabelle had been knocking around Hollywood for a few years with Hailee Steinfeld and Bridget Jones’s Diary director Sharon Maguire initially attached in 2019.

Fans have also pushed back on the idea of the film ‘playing into creepy male fantasies’ because it was penned by a woman – and also because Nick does come clean at the end.

Many also shared that what they connected with most was the sisters’ central relationship, making it not a conventional romantic movie, but one that has stayed with them and provoked a lot of ‘ugly crying’.

However, it’s always wise to be reminded that what flies in fantasy and fiction is not a recommendation or blueprint for real-life romantic relationships.

Metro has contacted reps for Netflix and Leah McKendrick for comment.

Voicemails for Isabelle is streaming exclusively on Netflix now.