Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal reunite in Benh Zeitlin film hold on to your angels

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• Mescal and Buckley team up again for a Louisiana-set drama
• Benh Zeitlin returns: a long-gestating idea reaches the screen
  • Roots and inspiration
• Production partners: Plan B and Rapt Film join forces
• What producers and the director are saying
• Cast updates and current projects
• Cannes market debut and next steps

Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley are reuniting for a southern Gothic romance from director Benh Zeitlin, with Brad Pitt’s Plan B stepping in to produce. The new feature, titled Hold on to Your Angels, marks Zeitlin’s first full-length film since 2020 and is arriving at the Cannes Marché du Film as a packaged project.

Mescal and Buckley team up again for a Louisiana-set drama

The pair, who previously shared the screen in the acclaimed adaptation of “Hamnet,” will play the two leads in a story rooted in the bayou. Reporters say the film follows a lawless drifter and a fierce guardian of the dispossessed as they fall into a destructive romance.

• Paul Mescal — cast as the outlaw figure.
• Jessie Buckley — cast as the shepherd of lost souls.
• Setting — coastal Louisiana, a landscape in decline.

Benh Zeitlin returns: a long-gestating idea reaches the screen

Zeitlin, the filmmaker behind Beasts of the Southern Wild, wrote and will direct the new picture. He has talked about carrying this idea for many years, tracing it back to the time of his breakout film.

Roots and inspiration

Zeitlin cited a character named Pam Harper, who first appeared during casting for his earlier film, as a driving spark for this project. He describes the picture as a portrait of a disappearing way of life and an intimate story set against environmental and social decay.

Production partners: Plan B and Rapt Film join forces

Brad Pitt’s production house, Plan B, is on board as a producer. Alex Coco’s Rapt Film, known for Anora, is also producing. The package will be shopped at Cannes, with sales and financing teams already assigned.

• International sales represented by The Veterans.
• Domestic financing handled by CAA Media Finance.

What producers and the director are saying

Zeitlin frames the project as both an elegy and a call for empathy. He emphasizes the film’s blend of mythic realism and human drama.

Plan B praised Zeitlin’s vision, calling his previous work “cosmic” and saying the new film expands his voice into epic romance and harsh realism. Producer Alex Coco highlighted Zeitlin’s talent for revealing beauty in overlooked corners of America.

Cast updates and current projects

• Jessie Buckley — fresh from an Oscar win for her role in Hamnet, she is now filming Alice Rohrwacher’s Three Incestuous Sisters. Her recent credits include Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride.
• Paul Mescal — currently working on the multi-part Beatles biopics, portraying Paul McCartney.

Cannes market debut and next steps

The film arrives at the Marché du Film next week, where rights and financing offers will be pursued. The Cannes market opens on May 12, providing a platform for buyers and financiers to pick up the title ahead of production.