Sundance’s NEXT section generally leans towards films that are a bit more experimental, so I was surprised to see that writer/director Louis Paxton’s delightfully sweet fairy tale The Incomer was about as mainstream as the category gets. The film centers on a brother and sister duo who have lived all alone on an isolated Scottish island for decades, creating their own mythology, communicating with the animals, and building their own little corner of the world. All of this centered around their father’s dying wish, to defend their home from outsiders who might want to take it away.
The always-great Gayle Rankin (of GLOW and The Climb fame) plays the eldest sibling, Isla, and she runs the pants in the family. Her brother, Sandy, played by Grant O’Rourke, is a massive teddy bear of a manchild. Together, they dress up as gulls, dazzle one another with folk tales, and hunt for their meager food each day. Gayle talks to the ominous Finn-men who lurk in the seas, one of whom REALLY wants her to come join him in the watery depths. Oh, and they live in complete fear of the mainland.
Domhnall Gleeson charms as Daniel, a geeky office worker for a government agency charged with relocating people living in unhabitable places. It’s Daniel’s job to evict Isla and Sandy off the island and onto the mainland. Better said than done, as Daniel’s not exactly the most confrontational guy in the world, and the siblings are aggressively against mainlanders.
The Incomer is a charming fish-out-of-water story, but also a vibrant coming-of-age tale about people finding their place in the world. For everyone involved, there’s a need to make a human connection and build a family. While Sandy and Isla nearly kill poor Daniel when he arrives on the island, they eventually warm up to him. Storytelling is a big part of this journey, as well. The siblings have built their entire lives around mythology, and they marvel at Daniel’s new stories…which he can thank J.R.R. Tolkien for.
Most of the humor comes from Daniel trying to teach them about things they’ve never encountered before. He tries to explain the Internet, to no avail, and his attempt to tell them what it means to be a vegan, as they devour a freshly-cooked gull, is pretty hilarious. On the other hand, Isla and Sandy show Daniel what it’s like to live off the land, and to appreciate the things they have that he’s never once had to think about.
The charm only starts to fade in the final stretch, as Daniel’s mean-spirited boss (Michelle Gomez) arrives with an army of goons to pull Isla and Sandy off the island. Fortunately, it quickly recovers with an offbeat sense of humor that reminds of the New Zealand comedies of Taika Waititi. The jokes and the way nature is such a huge part of the story make The Incomer very similar in tone to Hunt for the Wilderpeople, and I think people who like Waititi’s crowd-pleasing stuff will gravitate to this, as well.
