‘The Incomer’ Review: Quaint and Heartwarming Scottish Isle Fable Earns Its Heartwarming Finale
When they aren’t serving as a majestic backdrop to searing accounts of personal recovery (like “The Outrun”) or horror-thrillers like a page-turning Alice Feeney novel, remote isles tend to play host to quirky comedies these days in the style of debuting feature director Louis Paxton’s “The Incomer,” a big-hearted tale about a pair of lonesome siblings in urgent need of de-wilding.
We’ve seen recent dramedies in visually similar waters before like the Oscar-nominated splendor “The Banshees of Inisherin” and the lovely “The Ballad of Wallis Island,” two outings a lot more successful in both their dramatic touches and comedic flourishes. Still, something about “The Incomer” manages to captivate souls as it unfolds, thanks in large part to Gayle Rankin and her magnificently layered portrayal of Isla as one of the siblings stuck in a breathtaking yet remote Scottish isle, co-inhabited by no one other than the area’s wildlife: some very Hitchcockian birds in particular.
Isla and her brother and Sandy (a winsome Grant O’Rourke) have been stuck on the said island for over 30 years, after their parents passed away. Or perhaps stuck isn’t exactly the right word — rather, they have stayed by choice as they’ve been led to believe (from what we understand, their abusive father) that the mainland is a dangerous, unhappy, and unpleasant place, and they have everything they need on their own island. Truth be told, the siblings don’t quite look or act as rough as they should for a duo who hasn’t had any meaningful human contact in over three decades. In fact, their slightly-weathered wardrobe pieces consisting of some truly cozy Fair Isle sweaters and tweed garments wouldn’t be out of place at your average hipster coffee shop. But because Paxton has to telegraph their unfit-to-society nature in some way, odd rituals do what the costumes don’t. In that, we get to watch Sandy and Isla in outrageous bird costumes practicing some who-knows-what ceremonies. And since “The Incomer” is essentially a fable enlaced by local legends, we also get a little taste of an eerie man-seal who visits Isla from time to time, trying to scare her off from both the water (Isla can’t swim), and the idea of a life elsewhere.
While this fable-esque story thread doesn’t make for an enticing intro to the windswept and otherwise gorgeous world of “The Incomer,” Paxton thankfully finds his sea legs soon enough, introducing us to Daniel (an ever-soulful Domhnall Gleeson). He is a government employee trapped in a dead-end job, with a mean, paper-pusher of a boss with all the wrong priorities. In reality, Daniel’s sad life makes for a convincing case that the siblings are better off where they are. Still, Daniel doesn’t have a choice but to travel to the isle to retrieve Isla and Sandy. As far as the government is concerned, they have been living there illegally and they must be brought back to the mainland. Except, this isn’t the first time that the duo have successfully gotten rid of an incomer; and why should Daniel be any more difficult to outsmart?
It’s rather predictable that Daniel, Isla, and Sandy would soon form deep bonds, with Daniel questioning the integrity of the work he’s taken on. But for a movie that starts off rather clumsily, what’s surprising is the wonderful rhythm that Paxton settles into gradually, making the company of the trio a true pleasure to witness. Sometimes, the humor is exceedingly twee, but we don’t mind it in the hands of such an endearing bunch. Plus, there are number of genuine laugh-out-loud moments, such as when Sandy, after tasting a banana for the first time, offers a loud review of the fruit: “My mouth is alive!” Paxton also sensitively (albeit, somewhat bashfully) approaches Isla and Sandy’s emotional needs when both siblings grow feelings towards the charming Daniel, trying to one up each other to woo him. How could they not, when he is not only charismatic, and but also appears to be an excellent storyteller? (Daniel pretending to be the writer of “The Lord of the Rings,” or some version of it, is a pretty great running joke in the film.)
In the end, “The Incomer” is less about whether Isla and Sandy would make a life for themselves on the mainland, and more about the importance of family, friendship, and building a sense of community. It is also a generous, even timely reminder that the bodies of government have but one purpose: to serve the citizens they have been elected to uplift. After a comedic run-in with the mainland’s bureaucracy (and a new, villain-esque incomer with hilarious survival tactics), Isla and Sandy are granted an openhandedly satisfying ending. It’s perhaps a too perfect and comfortable one when weighed from the perspective of our real world. But don’t we sometimes come to movies to escape the ugly stuff? On those terms alone, “The Incomer” is something heartwarmingly beautiful.
