The Incomer film review: Cheerful and winning
This warm-hearted comedy skewers Scottish bureaucracy and insularity while finding tenderness in its oddball characters
The Incomer is a deft comedy with appeal for anyone who enjoyed the bucolic absurdities of Father Ted or the Schrute farm from the US version of The Office. Set on a supposedly uninhabited Scottish island, writer/director Louis Paxton’s film is all about recognising loneliness and overcoming isolation. Pencil-pushing bureaucrat Daniel (Domhnall Gleeson) arrives meekly by boat to remove two unruly inhabitants, the robust sibling pair of Isla (Gayle Rankin) and Sandy (Grant O’Rourke). They’ve lived away from the mainlanders for decades, keenly practicing their vigorous defence techniques in readiness for an unwelcome incursion.
Soon, the invading mainland force become shared enemies to the trio, with survivalist Callum (Emun Elliott) a stark contrast to Daniel’s gentle willingness to understand, while John Hannah is almost unrecognisable in his bizarre role as an aquatic sea-creature. Sandy and Isla cut laughable, eccentric figures, but Daniel gains a thoughtful understanding of their way of life as part of his duty of care. The Incomer’s brisk comic action satirises Scottish bureaucracy while lampooning a traditional, inward-looking sense of ourselves; it’s a cheerful, heart-warming and winning comedy that actually dares to address issues of Scottish identity.
Reviewed as part of Edinburgh International Film Festival; in cinemas from 4 September.