Two siblings have spent their lives defending a remote Scottish island from outsiders. Then the government sends one directly to their shore. “The Incomer,” the feature debut from Scottish writer-director Louis Paxton, follows Isla and Sandy, whose isolated existence is threatened when an awkward council worker arrives with orders to remove them from their home.
The confrontation gradually becomes something stranger and more humane as the three discover the fears, loneliness, and myths connecting them. “The Incomer” premiered in the NEXT section of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the NEXT Innovator Award. The jury praised the film’s combination of “deadpan humor, animation, and myth.”
“The Incomer” marks Paxton’s feature-length debut. His previous work includes shorts spanning comedy, drama, horror, and musicals, as well as episodes of the BBC One crime drama “Shetland.”
Domhnall Gleeson stars as Daniel, the uncomfortable government official sent to reclaim the island. Gayle Rankin and Grant O’Rourke play Isla and Sandy, the siblings determined to preserve their peculiar way of life. Emun Elliott, Michelle Gomez, and John Hannah round out the cast, with Hannah appearing as a mythological sea creature connected to Isla’s story.
The film earned a positive review from The Playlist’s Marshall Shaffer, who wrote that it is “at its absolute best when it gets to bask in this simple, sincere spirit of expanding one’s idea of belonging.” He also singled out O’Rourke as the breakout performer: “His ability to capture the whimsical humor of a stilted man-child while also bringing in an element of dry wit brings a versatility to ‘The Incomer’ that makes him the true scene-stealer.”
The film’s official synopsis:
“Sundance Award-winning comedy ‘The Incomer’ is a modern folk fairy tale set on a remote Scottish island, where two siblings survive by hunting seabirds, retelling the stories of their ancestors, and defending the isle from dreaded ‘Incomers.’ Their world is upended with the arrival of an awkward council worker who has come to uproot them from their homeland on behalf of the government.”
Shirley O’Connor and Emily Gotto serve as producers on “The Incomer.” Sumerian Pictures will release the film in theaters on September 25. Watch the new trailer below.
