The Incomer, which premiered Thursday at the Sundance Film Festival, is a whimsical comedy of very specific culture clashes. While the film is steeped in Scottish folklore, the comedy is universal.
Daniel (Domhnall Gleeson) arrives as an incomer from the Northeastern Scottish Council to evict them. His very presence brings the modern world, just as he is baffled by their isolated life.
Before Daniel's arrival, Isla and Sandy are quirky and innocent. They train to fight incomers by attacking burlap sacks.
They find sex toys washed ashore and don't know what they are. They catch and kill their own food.
Isla practices smiling with a picture in a magazine. She also speaks with a creature in the water she calls Mr Finman who tempts her to jump in with her. Mr. Finman recurs throughout the film.Daniel is just as strange to Isla and Sandy as they are to him. He tells them about supermarkets and the Internet but he can't explain exports or technology because he's just a shopper and user.
He tells them the stories from popular film and literature, but confuses them trying to explain why he's vegetarian.
It is a clever way to make a film with a limited cast in an isolated location. And yet, what occurs on between the islanders and the council has global impact.
The culture clash can be heartwarming on top of amusing. Their island traditions invigorate Daniel and Daniel teaches Isla to swim.
Daniel is the first person they have interacted with since their parents died. Though often contentious, Daniel hastens social development they have missed. And yet they accept aspects of Daniel for which mainland society mocks him.
The film is also responsible about Isla and Sandy's well-being. They were raised under questionable motivations but also the council isn't looking out for them.
The bureaucracy just wants the island but Daniel is honest about the benefits and pitfalls of returning to the mainland. The film resolves this in a healthy way for the characters and satisfying for the story.
The Incomer is exactly the kind of charming comedy that stands out in indie cinema. The plot is as outrageous as a Hollywood comedy but writer/director Louis Paxton and the cast keep it feeling personal throughout.
Fred Topel, who attended film school at Ithaca College, is a UPI entertainment writer based in Los Angeles. He has been a professional film critic since 1999, a Rotten Tomatoes critic since 2001, and a member of the Television Critics Association since 2012 and the Critics Choice Association since 2023. Read more of his work in Entertainment.
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