Zoey Deutch, Nick Robinson surprise moviegoers at Netflix screening

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.

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 landmarks 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.

“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.

For San Francisco-raised writer and director Leah McKendrick, who also plays Breeda in the film, that focus on the city was intentional. McKendrick, who said her first job was selling ice cream at the Giants’ ballpark, explained 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. 

“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,” said McKendrick, whose family remains in the area, including her siblings who live just blocks from the Alamo Drafthouse. 

“I’m really grateful to be from here, in a city where I grew up going to the drag shows and Bay to Breakers,” McKendrick went on, referring to the uniquely San Francisco 12K walk/run that doubles as a costume party. “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.”

As a San Francisco native himself, Mayor Daniel Lurie, who was on hand to introduce McKendrick onstage, told the Chronicle he was proud that a hometown filmmaker had decided to showcase the city.  

“We need more of it,” he said. 

While McKendrick eventually left the city to attend Chapman University in Orange County and pursue her film career, 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.

“It’s such a diverse city, and it really showed me that love has no borders, has no bounds,” McKendrick later told the Chronicle, noting 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,” she continued, adding that she hopes it’s among the takeaways viewers get from her San Francisco-set film. “Your people are here, I promise you. Regardless of what kind of weird, you’re going to find it in this city.”

Correction: A previous version of this review misstated the rating for the film. It’s TV-14.