‘The Incomer’ review: Domhnall Gleeson seeks common ground in quirky Scottish comedy

Dir: Louis Paxton. UK. 2026. 102mins

Two 30-something siblings living in isolation on a remote Scottish island find their world turned upside down by the sudden arrival of a stranger from the mainland. This intriguing feature debut from Bafta-nominated Scottish short filmmaker Louis Paxton makes effective use of its striking location and a trio of strong performances from Domhnall Gleeson, Gayle Rankin and Grant O’Rourke. That helps The Incomer overcome moments in which it strains too hard for whimsy, and allows it to evolve into a charming, defiantly regional human drama.

Constructs an impressive sense of place

Making its debut in Sundance’s NEXT strand, the film’s very specific setting and brand of humour – it could broadly be described as The Ballad Of Wallis Island meets The Wicker Man – may limit its prospects beyond the UK market, although its universal themes of identity and connection could tempt an arthouse streamer looking for bold regional voices. The presence of Gleeson and House Of The Dragon and GLOW star Rankin could also help draw attention.

An opening montage overlaid with narration by Isla (Rankin) establishes the fact that she and her brother Sandy (O’Rourke) have been living alone on the windswept ‘Gull Island’ for the best part of 30 years, since the deaths of their parents. Their days are spent catching seabirds for food, wrestling, telling stories and engaging in regular training to defend their home against dreaded ‘incomers’ from the mainland.

Performances from Rankin and O’Rourke are well-observed and mostly balanced, embracing the obvious oddness of their characters and their situation. Isla has taken on a maternal role – although she favours tough love – while Sandy is something of a manchild, relying heavily on his sister even as he strives for independence and embraces new experiences. (“My mouth is alive!” he proclaims when he eats a banana for the first time.) The sibling’s arrested development is largely played for laughs – and can occasionally wander too far into the juvenile or absurd – but is grounded by a palpable pathos; not least in moments where Isla speaks to an imaginary sea creature (played by a game John Hannah, submerged to his neck and in heavy make-up) who repeatedly attempts to tempt her beneath the water.

The pair’s already heady mix of loneliness, suspicion and fear is whipped into a frenzy by the arrival of Daniel (a suitably buttoned-up Gleeson), a mild-mannered council worker tasked by his power-hungry boss Ros (a scene-stealing Michelle Gomez) with evicting Isla and Sandy from their home and relocating them to the mainland. While Daniel is initially wary of the siblings – understandably, given that they dress as birds and attempt to literally throw him off the island – a rapport slowly begins to develop. Daniel may wax lyrical about the mainland and its many delights, but he is also considered an outsider and, it transpires, something of a kindred spirit. 

Paxton’s screenplay may hold few narrative surprises, but he constructs an impressive sense of place. The melancholy, elemental soundtrack from Tom Kingston rises and falls like the wind and the waves, while cinematography from Pat Golan captures the wild beauty of Scotland’s Orkney islands (the film shot on the islands and in a variety of Highland locations) and often frames his protagonists as vulnerable figures against the rugged landscape.

By contrast, Isla and Sandy’s ramshackle home is intimate and cosy, textured production design from Arthur de Borman and Kezia Eales suggesting a lived-in sanctuary, a place of familiarity and safe haven. This, together with their father’s warnings of evil mainlanders which echo in Isla’s stories – evocatively brought to life by Selina Wagner’s animations – sympathetically roots the siblings to the island, and makes their journey of self-discovery all the more compelling.