The Incomer

Off the north east coast of Scotland - there lies a small island upon which siblings "Isla" (Gayle Rankin) and brother "Sandy" (Grant O'Rourke) have lived for thirty winters. Entirely self contained and living their lives according to the cult of the gull, they only really have one law. Make sure any interlopers get hoyed over the cliff into the sea! On the mainland, the aspiring "Roz" (Michelle Gomez) has become aware of their existance and so sends the hapless office-boy "Daniel" (Domhnall Gleeson) out to serve them with an eviction notice. Just when it looks like he is destined for the same fate as his predecessors, though, he manages to use the music from his mobile phone and some grand gesturing to convince them he is a wizard. He begins to regale them with a sort of civil service hybrid of JRR Tolkien stories and next thing, they are eating out of his hands. "Isla" is much the more sceptical of the two, but as both gradually fall for their visitor we have to wonder if he might end up going native and staying, or might the ambitious "Roz" have to send in the cavalry - in the guise of her one man army "Callum" (Emun Elliott) to evict and protect? In some ways this has the look of a Mark Jenkin film with some lovely aerial photography of a windswept island that has clearly seen some cottage industries in the past but that is now abandoned save for our two eccentric residents. Thereafter, though, this develops much more of a layered story that combines some genuinely funny Scots humour (you have to be very careful how you punctuate a sentence with "Sam" humping "Frodo" up fifteen flights of stairs!) alongside some mysticism, some local authority form-filling indifference and the effects of isolation on all three of them. She has an interesting relationship with the "Fin Man" (John Hannah doing his own impersonation of a seal - complete with whiskers) that reflects her own issues with not just their current situation but with the memories of her long-absent parents whose backstory is gently but not comprehensively presented throughout. If I'm honest, I didn't really love the denouement but there is plenty of fun along the way and if you've a guid Scots tongue in your heid, you'll appreciate the humour from the vernacular dialogue. It might put you off having a chicken for a while, though - and there are a great many feathers!

The world can be a scary place with its perilous dangers and deceptive temptations, be they real or imagined. This is particularly so for those who have been isolated, with little or no contact with the outside, often buying into misleading superstitions and exaggerated risks. And so it is for a pair of almost-feral siblings, Isla (Gayle Rankin) and Sandy (Grant O’Rourke), the sole human inhabitants on the remote, windswept island of Ork located off the Scottish mainland. These de facto survivalists have resided there for 30 years after the immigration of all of the island’s other residents when lured away by the enticements of the mainland. Their parents, however, chose to stay, telling Isla and Sandy that the island was theirs as long as they protected it from incursions by “incomers” from the mainland. Not long thereafter, however, their parents died, leaving them to fend for themselves. They somehow learned how to survive, but they also developed some unique outlooks and practices, such as beliefs based on fantastic mythic tales involving trickster sea creatures and forging a ritualistic nature cult centered on the island’s only other residents, hordes of aggressive seagulls. Their lives take a sudden turn, though, when they receive a visit from an incomer representing a government agency seeking to relocate them off the island, Daniel (Domhnall Gleeson), a sheepish mid-level bureaucrat who fancies himself something of a closet wizard. Thus begins the clash of two different cultures that each try to influence the other to their way of thinking. In the process, Daniel’s mission becomes derailed as he falls for their rustic existence as Isla and Sandy become increasingly curious about life beyond their island. How will this scenario play out, especially when Daniel’s colleagues Callum (Emun Elliott) and Roz (Michelle Gomez) show up to see what happened to the eviction plan? Such is the charm that makes up this delightful debut feature from writer-director Louis Paxton, a genuine crowd-pleaser full of offbeat, quirky humor, a surprising number of tender (but not schmaltzy) moments, gorgeous cinematography and an intriguing, abstract, eclectic score. There’s much to be said for the trio of principals, too, with Rankin and O”Rourke playing perfect eccentric foils to Gleeson’s deadpan straight man. The picture also makes effective use of monochromatic animation in just the right amounts at just the right points in the narrative to depict the folksy tall tales that help to define the character of this remote and mythic locale, a nice touch that could have become tedious were it not for the filmmaker’s judicious restraint. While a few of the comic bits don’t land quite as effectively as they might have, most of them work well in this multilayered story that plays like an unusual cross between “Local Hero” (1983) and “The Birds” (1963) (yes, you read that right). “The Incomer” is an impressive premiere for a promising cinematic talent, and, fortunately for us and unlike Daniel, you don’t have to go quite so far afield to experience it.