A Charming Scottish Fairy Story Elevated by Gayle Rankin’s Efficiency

“Defend the isle, permit no incomer, survive.” So goes the easy directive that Isla and Sandy (Gayle Rankin and Grant O’Rourke, respectively) adhere to absolutely the letter from their late father. The siblings are on an in any other case uninhabited Orkney Island, in Scotland, a dramatic panorama shot fantastically by Pat Golan, upon which they dwell, looking for gulls for sustenance, and counting on nothing and nobody however one another and what they will discover on the land. Until, after all, they discover one thing that clearly as soon as belonged to a “mainlander,” as when Sandy finds an extended purple rubber dildo that he errors for both a weapon or a toy. Issues are principally peaceable for the duo till the soft-spoken, shut-in, pencil-pushing Daniel arrives to forcibly relocate them (Domhnall Gleeson).

The Incomer is a candy and charming grownup fairy story whose major attribute, a twee and cheeky humorousness, is each its enchantment and its achilles’ heel. It is a darling film dropped at life by a star-turning efficiency from Gayle Rankin, however there’s not a ton underneath the hood. One can sense the rising pains of debut function director Louis Paxton, whose quirky sensibility does not all the time translate properly to an extended movie. However in its easy social dynamic, there may be hidden a heat message concerning the nature of storytelling itself — and the way, typically, our biggest battle is to extricate ourselves from the tales our dad and mom, and our nations, inform us to maintain us protected. Maybe security is overrated.

Isla and Sandy have been surviving on this isle for the final thirty years, ever since their father “gave himself to the ocean” as a sacrifice to the gods to maintain them away from grasping mainland thieves. On this fable by which the 2 religiously dwell, “mainlanders” have lured away the islanders with false guarantees of “candy treats” and glossy lives within the technologically superior cities, a fable which is communicated to us in cute little animated sequences. However the siblings imagine this luring away to be an evil entity that they must, by violent means if crucial, resist.

Their mutual notion of that is challenged by Daniel’s arrival, since Gleeson’s character, just like the actor himself, appears to be a kind-hearted and harmless man with out nefarious intent. However guidelines are guidelines, and the siblings conspire to seize and kill him, which they virtually do, till Daniel realizes on the twenty fifth hour that he might most likely simply lie and inform them something. Like, say, that he’s a wizard who has magic powers. Oh, you need proof? How about the truth that he can play dramatic music from his cellphone and take footage of them?

The Incomer borrows loads of comedian sensibility from the overwhelming affect of All the things In all places All At As soon as administrators The Daniels, but it surely additionally has a relaxed, localized humor much like final 12 months’s The Ballad of Wallis Island, It is a chamber piece, principally, and thru these three characters, all of whom are distinctly remoted in their very own methods, Paxton questions the price of progress in addition to the price of avoiding it. There’s consolation in accepting the concepts, nevertheless regressive they could be, that our elders inform us. However there’s additionally consolation in going together with no matter newfangled concepts modernized society deems crucial.

Watching the trio bond is enjoyable sufficient, however Paxton complicates issues by making it flip right into a non-believable love triangle. Maybe it is smart that two cave-dwellers would attempt to glom onto the primary new particular person they see of their total grownup lives, however the film is extra thrilling when it’s a platonic connection reasonably than a romantic one. All three characters’ sexuality feels thinly drawn.

The movie works finest when sticking to its light poetics. In an particularly shifting and shocking second, the siblings provoke Daniel onto the island by encouraging him to face on the cliff and faux that he can fly. It is a bit factor, however as a result of Paxton has so properly established him as an individual that avoids battle of all sizes and styles, it is exhilarating to look at Daniel dance on the sting of life and dying. There are moments in The Incomer that hit with the cogency of a Billy Collins poem. It is much less profitable when it succumbs to its personal cuteness, which it does most by Sandy; O’Rourke is a really likable actor, however his character’s lack of information comes on the expense of rational thought.

However, the movie principally does work, and an enormous purpose is that Rankin is aces. The Home of the Dragon actor has lengthy since established herself, however this can be her best flip. She makes a goofy movie really feel grounded. Her wishes are palpable, her ache reaches off the display. A lot of our lives are decided by the tales we’re advised in childhood, and watching Isla be taught and unlearn in the identical second is touching. Stunning, even. Certain, it is enjoyable to look at Sandy learn to stroll. However extra gratifying is watching Isla learn to fly.

The Incomer screened on the 2026 Sundance Movie Pageant.