Here are Cinephile Corner’s 10 recommendations for movies like Voicemails for Isabelle:
Eternity
Eternity has a sweet, sentimental charm that fits David Freyne’s A24 rom-com mold, then asks a clever what-if of the afterlife. When you die, you enter a hub and choose where to spend forever. For Joan, played by Elizabeth Olsen, the question is less where than who. Freyne, working from a script co-written with Pat Cunnane, leans into humor and physical business rather than plumbing for deeper grief. The emotion largely comes from familiar highlight reels, meet cutes and proposal flashbacks that remind Joan what each love felt like in its best light. When the movie wants to go big, it does not hesitate.
Crossing Delancey
Crossing Delancey is the kind of romantic comedy that remembers what adulthood feels like. Joan Micklin Silver builds a world so specific that it becomes universal, a New York where bookstores, delis, and family kitchens carry as much weight as flirtations. The movie sits alongside the late eighties high points, close to Moonstruck and When Harry Met Sally…, yet it leans a little more serious and a little more tender.
We Live in Time
A movie like We Live in Time really shouldn’t work. The overly sentimental cancer drama is a well-trodden path, with its fair share of genuinely touching entries but even more bogged down by predictability and melodrama. We Live in Time doesn’t completely avoid these familiar pitfalls, as it leans into some of the same cheesy tropes that often plague this subgenre.
The People We Meet on Vacation
Netflix has built a steady assembly line of soft rom-coms over the past few years, and People We Meet on Vacation fits the template almost too cleanly. It is an adaptation of Emily Henry’s novel, glossy and travel-poster pretty, with luxurious vacation spots doing a lot of the heavy lifting. Brett Haley has made sweeter, more grounded work in Hearts Beat Loud and All the Bright Places, but this one feels Netflix-ified into something airless and mechanical, like it is engineered to be left on in the background rather than actually watched.
Sacramento
Sacramento is a good-not-great entry into the buddy road trip genre. It won’t blow you away, but if you’re a fan of its cast—Michael Cera, Michael Angarano, and Kristen Stewart included—there’s enough charm here to make it worth the ride.
Fingernails
Fingernails, directed by Christos Nikou, stands as another strong addition to Apple TV+’s repertoire, blending elements of romance, drama, and comedy against the backdrop of a futuristic society grappling with the complexities of love. Starring Jessie Buckley, Riz Ahmed, and Jeremy Allen White, the movie explores the fragility of relationships in a world where a single fingernail can determine the strength of a couple’s love.
Barbie
Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie deliver one of 2023’s most colorful and sincere trips to the movies. Barbie is a movie that transcends style and set design, offering a visual feast with enough laughs along the way.
Challengers
Luca Guadagnino directs one of his best movies with Challengers, which pairs his interests in yearning, miscalculated protagonists to the competitive world of tennis. It’s exhilarating and wild, with three prophetic performances from Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O’Connor that’ll challenge many of 2024’s best efforts.
Hit Man
Despite my love for nearly all things Richard Linklater and Glen Powell, I just couldn’t bring myself to fall for their newest release on Netflix – Hit Man, which tries its hardest to hide its superstar lead behind a thick layer of nerdy, undesirable heft that I saw right through from beginning to end.
Fly Me to the Moon
Rumor has it that Apple is stepping away from theatrical releases for their original movies, and the lukewarm reception of Greg Berlanti‘s Fly Me to the Moon may be a big reason why. Starring Channing Tatum and Scarlett Johansson, this romantic comedy set against the backdrop of the U.S.-Soviet space race seemed poised for success. It had all the ingredients for a financial hit: big stars, a pastiche-heavy style, and the kind of premise that could benefit from strong word-of-mouth. Yet, it never gained traction.
READ MORE: Voicemails for Isabelle (2026), 10 Movies Like Eternity, 10 Movies Like We Live in Time
