The 2026 Sundance Film Festival kicks off Thursday, January 22 and runs through Sunday, February 1 for, sadly the last time, in and around Park City, Utah. Check out Matt Delman’s The Incomer movie review, fresh from the fest. Seen it? Join the conversation with HtN on our Letterboxd Page.)
Comedy is hard, but not as hard as evicting a pair of siblings from an island off the coast of Scotland. Luckily for us, writer-director Louis Paxton is extremely funny and his leads Isla (Gayle Rankin) and Sandy (Grant O’Rourke) are hilariously obstinate. When Daniel (Domhnall Gleeson) arrives by boat to relocate them, he’s met by two feathered creatures who attack him. The term ‘Incomers’ was beaten into the feral 30-something siblings by their father, as a threat to their way of life. It’s clear Isla and Sandy have internalized this since early childhood, but what’s humorous is how they externalize it in their reactions and response to Daniel, a meek but lovable redhead who has come to haul them away against their will. Viewers will be relieved to know that Paxton uses just the right amount of quirk and the film never teeters into twee whimsy. Instead what develops is a beautiful relationship between all three, one that illuminates our contemporary human condition. But mainly it’s just hilarious when the bad guy brings jugs of piss on his covert extraction mission. You don’t have to think too hard to enjoy The Incomer, and that’s one of its many pleasures.
Soon after landing on the island, Daniel sends a distress message to his company back on the mainland– “islanders hostile.” Isla is the more hostile of the two, played with an off-kilter intensity by Rankin. Her performance is incredible, and helps to ground the premise in reality. By comparison, Isla’s brother Sandy is a bundle of joy, his wide eyed excitement brimming at the prospect of a new friend, or perhaps something more. As you can imagine the dating pool on the island is non-existent. Daniel’s arrival also ignites Isla’s insides, but when he goes in for a kiss she reacts with a brutal headbutt. The triad has terrific chemistry and we somehow find ourselves rooting for all of them.
Work-wise Daniel typically doesn’t do house calls, preferring to work behind a computer. His colleague has been recently suspended for an incident that may have been violent, but when Daniel goes off the grid his boss sends in the muscle to retrieve him. This is the aforementioned ‘bad guy’ named Calum (Emun Elliott), who also turns out to be a bit of a freak. Eventually the entire squadron shows up for a climactic showdown involving seagulls. But the moments of connection between Daniel and the siblings are certainly the most powerful scenes.
The stunts are pretty basic, but there’s an impressive moment where the characters ‘ride the wind’ on the edge of a cliff which transcends cliche into something more spiritual. The island setting no doubt brings a lot of production value and cinematographer Pat Golan captures a beautiful coastline, which I learned was actually the coast of the mainland–not an actual island–since the logistics of filming on an island are a nightmare. As a viewer I never questioned the authenticity, the twins’ home feels lived-in and I believed the entire setup–which is important for the comedy to work.
The Incomer is director Louis Paxton’s debut feature, and you could call him a ‘fresh voice’ but he’s more like a bagpipe, creating something beautiful and somewhat goofy out of a haunting screech. Siblings fight, people get knocked unconscious, and there’s even a mysterious gray seal water demon who Isla confides with in a wading pool. This may represent a ‘depression kitty’ of sorts but really it’s just another excuse for Paxton to dress a man in a funny seal costume with insane makeup and crazy contact lenses. Aside from the suicidal storyline, there’s another poignant moment when they ask Daniel about his own happiness, and he realizes he is as isolated as the islanders. If only the mainlanders would listen to his stories like Isla and Sandy do. Daniel steals from Lord of the Rings for his nightly oration, but Paxton is not stealing from anybody, The Incomer is one-of-a-kind.
– Matthew Delman (@ItsTheRealDel)
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