Madelyn Cline and Lukas Gage Are the Ultimate Style Duo at Netflix’s ‘Voicemails for Isabelle’ Screening

There is a particular kind of electricity that fills a room when a romantic comedy is about to arrive and everyone already suspects it is going to be very good. The Los Angeles premiere of ‘Voicemails for Isabelle’ had exactly that energy, with cast members and industry guests gathering at the Netflix Tudum Theater in Los Angeles on June 16 to celebrate what is shaping up to be the streaming platform’s most anticipated summer release.

Among the faces turning heads on the red carpet were Lukas Gage and Madelyn Cline, photographed together in front of a Golden Gate Bridge backdrop that nods directly to the film’s San Francisco setting. Gage, who plays a character named Arthur in the film, arrived looking effortlessly put-together in a grey vest and matching trousers, while Cline, who attended as a guest, made the kind of entrance that reminded everyone why her profile has continued to rise steadily in recent years.

Stealing the spotlight in terms of the film’s leads were Zoey Deutch and Nick Robinson, whose chemistry at the premiere reflected the bond they build across the film’s runtime. Writer-director Leah McKendrick reportedly teared up as she introduced Deutch as her “cinematic muse,” highlighting how the film beautifully balances heavy heartache with genuine, lighthearted humor.

‘Voicemails for Isabelle’ centers on Jill, played by Deutch, an aspiring pastry chef who copes with the death of her little sister Isabelle by continuing to leave her voicemails. But when Isabelle’s phone number gets reassigned to an enigmatic real estate agent named Wes, played by Robinson, things get complicated as Wes hears Jill grieve and overshare and slowly starts to fall for her, sight unseen.

Director McKendrick, who also stars in the film as Breeda, Wes’s friend, was clear from the beginning about who she needed in the lead role, describing Zoey Deutch’s ability to access both the deep mourning and the cackle-inducing voicemails as something no other actor could replicate. “We always knew we needed an actor who was disarming and hilarious, yet excruciatingly raw,” McKendrick said via Netflix Tudum. “No one can access all the colors quite like Zoey can.”

The film’s central conceit is both elegantly simple and surprisingly timely. McKendrick has spoken about voicemails as a format that cannot be edited or rewritten, describing them as usually messy, awkward, and inarticulate, sometimes confessional, which is exactly what makes them such a compelling vehicle for a love story in a social media-saturated world. The result has been compared to warm classics like ‘You’ve Got Mail’ and ‘Sleepless in Seattle’, and that framing is not accidental.

Beyond Deutch and Robinson, the supporting ensemble includes Nick Offerman as Chef Bastien, Harry Shum Jr. as Andy, Ciara Bravo as Isabelle, Lukas Gage as Arthur, and Gil Bellows as Jill’s dad, with the score composed by Este Haim and Amanda Yamate. That lineup alone gives the film an unusual level of comedic firepower for a project of this scale.

McKendrick herself admitted at the premiere that having so many funny people on set came with its own risks, joking that if the production were middle school, Lukas Gage and Zoey Deutch would have to be separated. The on-set camaraderie is palpable in the way the cast showed up for one another at the premiere, with Gage and Cline making one of the more photographed appearances of the evening.

The project has an unusually long journey to the screen. It was originally announced back in 2019 with Hailee Steinfeld in the lead and Sharon Maguire directing, before the current iteration with McKendrick at the helm was greenlit in May of last year. Principal photography began in Vancouver, Canada, and the finished film lands on Netflix in just days.

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