San Francisco is having a cinematic moment — and for at least one production, a local is behind the camera. Leah McKendrick, who grew up in the Richmond and went to high school in Japantown, wrote, directed, and acted in “Voicemails for Isabelle,” Netflix’s No. 1 movie. And it shows. 

In the movie, pastry chef Jill (played by Zoey Deutch) spends hours sitting on a fictional bench at Battery Spencer, often in the dark, gazing at the Golden Gate Bridge. From the bench, she leaves rambling voicemails for her sister Isabelle, divulging details of everything from her evil boss’s antics to her sex life. 

But the voicemails never reach Isabelle (Ciara Bravo), who has recently died of cystic fibrosis in their childhood home in Texas. Instead, they land on the work phone of Austin-based commercial real estate agent Wes (Nick Robinson), who listens carefully to each.

some critics have panned the film and pointed out the potential creepiness of its premise. But The New York Times called it “poignant (opens in new tab)” and lauded Deutch’s performance, and the internet seems to be obsessed (opens in new tab). 

It’s a rom-com fit for the age of the rom-com’s revival — heartbreaking, yet romantic and fun. Despite its cheeky premise and reliance on logistical liberties — how does she get to Marin every single day? Isn’t it windy up there? Why isn’t the bridge ever obscured by fog? — it has the touch of someone who knows and loves San Francisco. 

The crew spent just three days filming in San Francisco — the rest was filmed in Vancouver — but packed them with sea lions at Pier 39 and a first kiss in front of the Union Square Macy’s. A parody version of Big Bus makes an appearance, as do bakery lines and a well-timed dig at the Marina’s “preppy tech bros and Karens and vegan Alo clones.”

“Everyone hates the Marina,” Jill’s coworker tells her. “The Marina hates itself. It’s basically L.A.”

The Standard spoke to McKendrick about dating tech bros, avoiding tourist traps, and gazing at the Golden Gate Bridge. 

This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

San Francisco is not a great place for dating. For people in the Hinge trenches, it’s a lot of tech bros, high expectations, and constant swiping. So why set a rom-com here? 

I will tell you, dating in L.A. is not better. I think that’s a lot of cities, but SF is just the most beautiful, most romantic city in the world. I go home, and I’m like, wow, I had no idea how good I had it. When you have a beautiful day, everybody’s outside. It’s a super diverse city, it’s so art-forward, and it’s small, so you can really get around. There are so many different flavors, from the Mission to North Beach to where I’m from, which is the Richmond, and I’m jaw-dropped by how gorgeous it is when I go home.

I never really dated there, but even in the song “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” there’s something that feels like longing and yearning and searching. Maybe that’s just because that’s who I was growing up there. That’s what it represents to me, and I was excited to put it on screen.

That definitely comes across, especially in the scenes with Jill on the bench in the Marin Headlands, looking at the Golden Gate Bridge. 

Have thoughts on this story?

The Golden Gate Bridge is the sort of crossroads of the world. People have their morning commutes, they get engaged, they end their lives — it’s the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. She’s observing life happening, but she’s not a part of it. She’s somewhere between life and heaven, which is above the bridge. 

You can tell that the movie is shot and created by a local. I’m curious if there were other San Francisco references or little pieces of the city that you wanted to incorporate that didn’t make it into the movie.

Oh my God, there are. I referenced Dolores Park and the Mission, that we need to go where the foodies are. There was more at Golden Gate Park that we shot that was really important to me because they shot Golden Gate Park in “The Wedding Planner,” and as a kid I was like, “That’s where I live.” That felt really full-circle to me. I wanted to shoot Boudin. I wanted to have them eating sourdough bread bowls.

What are your off-the-beaten-path spots in the city? 

My favorite is Sophie’s Crepes in Japantown. I went to Sacred Heart, so we spent a lot of time singing karaoke in Japantown. I also really love Cinderella Bakery, which is just around the corner from my parents’ house. That feels like a very San Francisco day, waking up and going around the corner so that I don’t have to have my dad’s gross coffee, and getting a latte and breakfast sandwich for my mom. I really love the Presidio. And Big Lantern is my favorite Chinese food because I don’t eat meat, and they have the best plant-based orange chicken, and that’s right by where my brother lives in the Mission.

I went to junior high at Star of the Sea. I spent a lot of time having dim sum between school and basketball practice, a very San Francisco thing. 

Let’s talk about that Marina joke. It was so well-timed. What was the inspiration? 

I have a thread with my two little cousins, Sheila and Nina, and my sister Olivia, and we’re the “brothers.” I call all three of them my little brothers, so my little brother Sheila was the one who would share all the horror stories of dating in SF. She was just like, nothing is more evil than a tech bro from the Marina. She would tell me about how they would dress with their little boat shoes and their fleeces.

When I was in high school, the Marina was a nice area, and then the tech boom happened, and it brought in this whole wave of these tech bros that didn’t exist when I was there. My little brother was like, it’s actually diabolical, their behavior. 

You’re not the only person making movies about San Francisco right now. We’ve got “The Invite” and “Artificial” coming out soon. Why do you think San Francisco is having a movie renaissance?

As a filmmaker, we’re all hungry to have a unique texture for a city, right? There’s no city in the world like San Fran, right? A lot of us live in L.A. or New York. How many times can we set these movies in L.A. or New York? 

We would all love to set our movies in SF, but it’s tough production-wise (opens in new tab). A lot of us have been sent abroad to shoot our movies. Tax incentives make it possible. Great crews make it possible. But it’s the ultimate dream to shoot in the cities that we grew up seeing in films, and that we know play a character in these movies, especially in a rom-com.

Especially when she’s so lonely, and when her sister is gone, it’s just her and the city. It felt so essential to me to have a city as unique, as singular as my hometown.