“The Incomer” opens on an island so small it barely registers on a map. Isla and Sandy live there, siblings bound together by blood, birds, and the stories their ancestors left behind. They hunt seabirds for food, tell tales of generations past, and defend the isle from anyone they call an Incomer. That last duty is the whole plot, and it sets the film apart from the usual island-set drama.
This is Louis Paxton’s feature debut as both writer and director. He built the film around a simple premise: a family refuses to leave the place they were born, even as the world insists they should. The result is a comedy-drama that leans hard into the absurdity of its setup while holding onto the emotional weight of the characters’ attachment to their home.
Trailer, via Universal Pictures UK.
Daniel Arrives
The story turns when Daniel shows up. He is a council worker sent to remove the residents from their island, and he is the kind of man who believes he is helping them. Domhnall Gleeson plays him as awkward, earnest, and entirely wrong for the assignment. He walks into a community that has spent years building walls around itself, and those walls are made of fear, tradition, and a refusal to let anyone in.
Isla, played by Gayle Rankin, is the keeper of the family’s history. She tells the stories of her ancestors with a gravity that borders on reverence. Sandy, played by Grant O’Rourke, is her brother and partner-in-crime. Together they run the island, manage the seabird hunts, and decide who gets to stay and who gets to leave. The film spends a lot of time with them, and it is through their eyes that we see the island’s rules and rituals.
Calum, played by Emun Elliott, rounds out the family dynamic. Roz, played by Michelle Gomez, brings a sharp edge to the ensemble. John Hannah plays Fin Man, a local figure who also serves as a father figure to the siblings. Each actor commits fully to the material, and the cast chemistry holds the film together when the plot strains.
The Island’s Rules
The island’s rules are the engine of the story. Outsiders are not welcome. Stories are sacred. Tradition is law. When Daniel arrives, he does not understand any of it. He thinks he is freeing them from a hardship, but he cannot see the hardship as anything but hardship. The film asks us to see it as something else: a way of life, a connection to the past, a sense of belonging that cannot be bought or sold.
Paxton handles the pacing with care. The film moves at a deliberate pace, letting the quiet moments breathe. There is a scene where Isla and Sandy sit on a cliff, watching the seabirds fly over the water, and the silence carries more meaning than any line of dialogue could. This is a film about attachment, and it knows that sometimes the best way to show it is to show nothing at all.
Daniel’s Problem
Daniel is the film’s hinge. He is the outsider who forces the family to confront their own stubbornness. He is also the audience’s entry point. We see the island through his eyes, and we share his confusion. The film does not punish him for his mistakes. It lets him make them, and it watches the consequences ripple outward.
Gleeson’s performance anchors the film. He plays Daniel as sincere to the point of foolishness, and that sincerity becomes a kind of vulnerability. He is not a villain. He is just a man who believes he is doing the right thing, and he cannot understand why everyone else disagrees.
The Family Dynamic
The sibling relationship is the heart of the film. Isla and Sandy have spent their lives together, hunting, telling stories, and protecting each other. The arrival of Daniel disrupts that balance. The film watches them react, resist, and eventually adapt. The change is gradual, and it is handled with care.
Rankin and O’Rourke play off each other with a natural ease. Their scenes together feel lived-in, as if these two people have been sharing a space for decades. The film trusts them to carry the emotional weight, and they do.
The Tagline
The tagline sums up the entire film: “Welcome to Auk Isle. Population: one too many.” It is a joke, but it is also a statement of principle. The island cannot support a visitor, and the visitor cannot understand why. The film circles this idea again and again, from the first frame to the last.
The title itself is a warning. An Incomer is anyone who comes in, and the island’s inhabitants have spent generations deciding who belongs and who does not. The film does not judge them for it. It simply observes the process, and it leaves the final verdict open.
What Works and What Doesn’t
The film succeeds when it stays grounded in the characters and their world. It fails when it tries to push the stakes higher than the premise can bear. The island is a closed system, and the film respects that. It does not try to make the conflict bigger than it naturally is. That restraint is the film’s strength.
There are moments where the dialogue feels a bit too neat, where the jokes land with a thud instead of a laugh. These are minor complaints, and they do not undermine the overall experience. The film is uneven, but the highs are high enough to justify the lows.
The Audience Response
The film has an audience score of 6.2 out of 10 from five votes on TMDB. That is a modest number, but it is early. The film has not yet been reviewed by critics, and the audience response is the only data available. Five votes is a small sample, and it should not be taken as a settled judgment.
Our own verdict is firmer. We believe the film is worth seeing for its commitment to its central idea, its strong performances, and its willingness to let the story unfold at its own pace. It is not a perfect film, but it is a genuine one.
Our Score
We rate “The Incomer” 7 out of 10. It is a debut feature that shows promise, a film that respects its characters and its setting, and a comedy-drama that earns its laughs through patience rather than punchlines.
The film is currently in cinemas. If you are looking for a movie that rewards attention, this one fits the bill. It is not a blockbuster, and it does not pretend to be. It is a quiet, confident piece of work from a filmmaker who knows exactly what he is doing.
| Element | Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|---|
| Premise | Original, tightly focused | Limited scope |
| Performances | Strong across the board | None notable |
| Direction | Deliberate, controlled | Uneven pacing |
| Dialogue | Natural, character-driven | Occasional flat jokes |
| Setting | Evocative, immersive | Small scale |
“The Incomer” is a film about home, about the stories we tell ourselves, and about the people we refuse to let in. It is a debut that deserves attention, and it delivers on its promise more often than it falls short.
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