Movie Review: ‘The Incomer’

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Review by James Lindorf

“the Incomer” opens today, September 25th, in limited theaters through Sumerian Pictures. Written and directed by Louis Paxton, it is a Scottish comedy that hides genuinely dark material beneath its quirk, and the mix will not work for everyone, but it worked for me.

Isla (Gayle Rankin) and Sandy (Grant O’Rourke) are siblings living on a remote Scottish isle. They spend their days hunting seabirds and passing down their ancestors’ stories, all under a strict set of rules their late father gave them: protect the island, allow no incomer, survive. Life is hard, but they have the island, each other, and their peace, until the arrival of Daniel (Domhnall Gleeson), an awkward, socially inept council official sent to evacuate them. He brings with him all the strange mainland ways of laws, paperwork, veganism, and internet wizardry. The cast is rounded out by Daniel’s boss Roz (Michelle Gomez) and her goon Calum (Emun Elliott), who serve as a credible physical and bureaucratic threat to the world the siblings have built.

The three leads are why this movie works. Gleeson gets a standout scene telling a story that plays like “Office Space” crossed with “The Lord of the Rings,” in an attempt to bewitch the siblings. O’Rourke’s Sandy gets his most memorable moment giving Daniel a tour of the island, so earnest and childlike that you feel hopeful and heartbroken for him in the same breath. Rankin carries the darker half of the film as Isla, imagining sea creatures attempting to seduce her into the water. She is controlled by ingrained fears that only start to loosen once the incomer disrupts the world she has built to survive in. It is a credit to the actors, Paxton, and the editor, Brian Philip Davis, that the film’s tonal shifts never cause whiplash as it moves from scene to scene.

The island itself is shot to feel cold, grey, wet, and oppressive, exactly the kind of place very few people would fight to keep and yet exactly the kind of place someone raised the way these siblings were might swear to defend to the death. The wind, sea, and birds do a lot of the atmospheric heavy lifting, and they do it well. The score is a different story. The opening cue is grating enough that if I had been watching this alone rather than for review, I might have jumped ahead and caught up later, and that abrasiveness resurfaces at points throughout. Another place where the film stumbles is repetition. The dynamic between the three leads is strong, but it gets worked over one too many times across a runtime that could stand to lose a few minutes. It may have been less noticeable if the story didn’t land pretty much exactly where you expected it to from the start.

I went in having only read the synopsis, and I expected something closer to a child welfare worker showing up to the “Blue Lagoon,” with a healthy dash of “Home Alone” adult-versus-kids comedy. Instead, I got a quirky, charming British comedy that will either endear itself to you or push you away, depending on the mood you bring to it. Anyone who has seen “The Banshees of Inisherin” will recognize the shape of this one. Both films use an isolated setting to force a reckoning about human connection.

What “Incomer” is actually about, under the seabird hunting and the paperwork jokes, is how isolating yourself, physically or emotionally, stunts your growth and reduces the joy in your life. It may at times be a strange vehicle for that message, but it remains a committed one, and Gleeson, Rankin, and O’Rourke give it more than enough heart to survive its rough patches. “Incomer” earns a 4 out of 5 from me.

Rating: R (Brief Nudity)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): September 25th, 2026, Limited
Runtime: 1h 42m
Director: Louis Paxton
Producer: Emily Gotto, Shirley O’Connor
Screenwriter: Louis Paxton
Distributor: Sumerian Pictures
Production Co: Little Walnut Productions, Metrol Technology, Screen Scotland, Pilea Pictures, Head Gear Films, Keeper Pictures, British Film Institute, Inevitable Pictures, Day Zero Productions