Fresh off their multi-Oscar nominated film Hamnet, for which Jessie Buckley won Best Actress, Buckley and her co-star Paul Mescal will reunite on a new film called Hold on to Your Angels.
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The film, which will begin production in February 2027, is being written and directed by Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of The Southern Wild), and will be produced by Plan B and Alex Coco, under his Rapt Film banner.
It will be set on the edge of South Louisiana, and follow "a hell-bound outlaw (Mescal) and a ferocious shepherd of lost souls (Buckley) who fall in catastrophic love as their crumbling bayou paradise drags them under".
Zeitlin said in a statement on the project: "Hold on to Your Angels is the most impossible love story I’ve ever witnessed — an outlaw romance for the end of America, set on the crumbling edge of South Louisiana.
"I’ve been dreaming of telling it since its hero, Pam Harper, walked into an audition for Beasts of the Southern Wild 17 years ago. It’s a love letter to an endangered way of life — and a rallying cry for empathy across a fractured planet."
Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley. Max Cisotti/Dave Benett/Getty Images
Plan B said: "Benh Zeitlin absolutely stunned us and the world at large with the cosmic sorcery of Beasts of the Southern Wild. With Hold on to Your Angels, Benh has set his powerful mix of intense realism, myth and magic against the large scale of an epic love story.
"This is a writer-director with a vision for the ages, and we could not be more proud to be by his side to make this film with Jessie and Paul."
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Meanwhile, Coco added: "After years of working with filmmakers that explore the overlooked corners of our world, I can recognize Benh Zeitlin as a filmmaker with that rare gift: the ability to reveal profound beauty and humanity in parts of America that seldom find their way onto the silver screen."
Buckley was most recently seen playing the title role in The Bride, while Mescal is currently filming Sam Mendes's four The Beatles films, in which he plays Paul McCartney.
James Hibbs is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering programmes across both streaming platforms and linear channels. He previously worked in PR, first for a B2B agency and subsequently for international TV production company Fremantle. He possesses a BA in English and Theatre Studies and an NCTJ Level 5 Diploma in Journalism.
