The Incomer is a lovely ode to being sort of a weirdo. Siblings Isla (Gayle Rankin) and Sandy (Grant O’Rourke) have been fending for themselves on a tiny isle off the coast of Scotland from a young age (since their father walked into the ocean). Part of their tradition, passed on from their father, is to fend off incomers to their isle by any means necessary. But thirty years of living on an isolated isle with only each other for company has made them very strange. Without the “corrective force” of the judgment of others, they’ve formed their own strange rituals and habits to pass the time.
That all changes when Daniel (Domhnall Gleeson), a relocation specialist for the local Scottish government, arrives at the isle to evict them. Daniel is a bit of an outcast himself, mocked at work for his eczema and his inclination towards the fantasy genre. So he is primed to be sympathetic towards the siblings, although they don’t help the matter by immediately responding to his presence with aggression. But Isla and Sandy’s curiosity about Daniel quickly gets the better of them, and the three begin to bond.
The Incomer is a true comedy with a quirky sense of humor, filled with loads of sight gags and editing jokes. It’s laugh-out-loud funny, but it also knows how to deploy its humor to make the audience sympathize more with the characters rather than driving them away. It manages to get laughs for the siblings’ antics while also being respectful of their unique way of looking at life. Sure, they are behaving strangely, but the movie also wants to normalize the strangeness and make its audience question why conformity to certain behavior patterns is expected by society.
There is a clear difference between how the film treats the siblings and the Scottish governmental agencies—both are the butt of the joke at times, but it’s clear that we are laughing at the expense of the evictors and not at the expense of the evictees. Daniel ends up a bit caught in between the two groups, as he gets to know the siblings and realizes that he may have more in common with them than with his employer. There’s some insightful commentary here about how organizations centered around eviction might attract and enable bad people who approach the job with malice rather than empathy. But they can also attract people who want to be helpful but end up causing harm because they are trying to fulfill the responsibilities of their job and have become a little numb to the humanity around them.
A theme that emerges is facing and overcoming one’s fears. Through the events of the movie, Daniel, Isla, and Sandy each go through a journey towards making decisions from a place of confidence rather than fear. This begins with tangible fears: Daniel’s fear of heights is tested when the siblings have him participate in a ritual that involves leaning off a cliff into the wind, and Isla’s fear of the water is tested when Daniel teaches her how to swim. But eventually, the movie turns to deeper-seated fears, like the fear of the unknown, rejection, and being alone. These themes are handled with a light touch; they are powerfully conveyed at times, but feel like a very natural progression for the characters.
Another theme that the movie hints at, but ultimately pulls back on, is the theme of erasing ways of life and forced homogeneity. Daniel lives on the mainland and experiences pressure to conform to behavior patterns that are acceptable to those around him; Isla and Sandy haven’t really experienced this in their isolation. By evicting the siblings and relocating them to the mainland, Daniel’s employer is not only taking away their home but also forcing them to engage in a way of life that is foreign to them.
But the movie brings this theme to an unsatisfying conclusion, favoring a blended approach of partial assimilation while preserving some aspects of the characters’ strangeness. While the characters’ journey of overcoming fear could bring them to make this choice, the movie stops a little short of a full condemnation of the forced destruction of unique cultures by those in power. The theme of overcoming fears is ultimately pitted against the theme of being yourself and not conforming to pressure in a counterproductive way.
Despite these conflicting themes, The Incomer still manages to delight. It strikes a tonal balance between its comedy and its heartfelt moments that feels very genuine and fresh. Though it could stand to be a little more subversive in its ultimate message, The Incomer still manages to highlight important messages in regards to cultural conformity and overcoming fears, while weaving its story of three weirdos who find each other with humor and grace.
