After building massive awards momentum individually over the last few years, Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley are now heading into another emotionally intense project together. The two actors, who already star in Hamnet from filmmaker Chloé Zhao, have officially signed on for a new feature titled Hold on to Your Angels. And honestly, the setup already sounds like one of those haunting Southern dramas that stays with audiences long after watching.
The film is being written and directed by Benh Zeitlin, the Oscar-nominated filmmaker behind Beasts of the Southern Wild. That alone is enough to get film lovers interested because Zeitlin has a very distinct storytelling style. His movies usually blend realism with dreamlike emotion, and this upcoming project seems to be leaning heavily into that same atmosphere. Set in South Louisiana, the story follows a doomed outlaw and a fierce guide of lost souls who fall deeply in love while their fragile bayou world slowly collapses around them.
According to early details, Mescal will play the outlaw while Buckley takes on the role of the spiritual shepherd figure. The romance at the center of the story is being described as catastrophic and emotionally explosive rather than traditionally romantic. That darker tone actually fits both actors perfectly because they’ve become known for playing emotionally wounded and deeply human characters over the years. Their screen presence tends to feel raw and intimate instead of polished, which should help this film stand apart from typical prestige dramas.
The project is already creating strong buzz ahead of this month’s Cannes market, where studios are expected to aggressively chase distribution rights. Some industry insiders are reportedly surprised the film has not already been picked up considering the names attached. Plan B Entertainment, the production company behind Oscar-winning films like Moonlight, is producing alongside producer Alex Coco under his Rapt Film banner. Coco’s recent involvement with Anora has also boosted excitement around the package.
Production is expected to begin in February 2027, which means audiences may still have a long wait ahead. Still, the combination of Mescal, Buckley, and Zeitlin already gives the film serious prestige appeal. Over the last few years, Paul Mescal especially has become one of the most respected younger actors in Hollywood after projects like Normal People and Aftersun turned him into a critical favorite. His performances often carry quiet emotional devastation, and that energy feels perfect for a tragic Southern romance like this one.
Jessie Buckley, meanwhile, continues building one of the most unpredictable careers in modern cinema. From psychologically disturbing roles to musical dramas and intimate character studies, she rarely repeats herself. Her recent Oscar-winning momentum has only made filmmakers more interested in giving her challenging material. Pairing her with Mescal again could end up becoming one of the film’s biggest selling points because both actors naturally bring emotional tension to even simple scenes.
Benh Zeitlin’s comments about the project also reveal how personal this film is for him. The filmmaker described Hold on to Your Angels as “the most impossible love story” he has ever witnessed and called it both a tribute to endangered Southern communities and a larger emotional statement about empathy in a fractured world. That kind of thematic ambition feels very in line with Beasts of the Southern Wild, which also explored survival, environmental collapse, and forgotten American lives through almost mythic storytelling.
One thing that makes this project stand out is how unapologetically cinematic it sounds during a time when many dramas are becoming smaller and safer. This doesn’t feel like a conventional awards-season romance. It sounds messy, spiritual, tragic, and emotionally overwhelming in a way that old-school Southern Gothic stories often are. The collapsing Louisiana bayou setting alone already gives the film a strong visual identity before cameras have even started rolling.
If everything comes together the way early reactions suggest, Hold on to Your Angels could become one of the most anticipated auteur-driven dramas of the next few years. And with Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley leading the chaos, audiences probably should prepare for another emotionally wrecking experience.
