By Lucy Spicer

Before the January 22 premiere of The Incomer at The Ray Theatre in Park City, Sundance Film Festival Senior Programmer John Nein reassures the packed audience that what they’re about to watch will be an absolute joy. 

“After watching hundreds of submissions about the hopeless downward spiral of the world, this is a film that not only made us laugh nonstop and out loud, but it also impressed with the way that it really deftly finds a tone, balances humor and poignancy, offers a heartwarming reflection on our desire for connection, has a really unique voice,” he says.

The uplifting balm to the soul that he’s describing is the feature debut from Scottish writer-director Louis Paxton. This whimsical delight of a film, which is screening as part of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival’s NEXT section, revolves around a pair of siblings who are the sole inhabitants on a remote Scottish isle. Isla (Gayle Rankin) and Sandy (Grant O’Rourke, a longtime collaborator of Paxton’s) survive on gulls for food, ancient folklore for entertainment, and cautionary tales from their late father for fortitude as they steadfastly protect their home and way of life from outsiders, whom they call “incomers.” So when a well-meaning but awkward council worker named Daniel (Domhnall Gleeson) arrives with news that their eviction is imminent, they’re prepared to stop him in his tracks. 

Once he’s detained, Daniel attempts to reason with the siblings by telling them about the wonders of the mainland (including avocados and the internet). Childlike Sandy — a good-natured naïf who proved a near-constant source of laughter to the film’s audience — wants to know more about this curious variety that Daniel speaks of. Hardened Isla isn’t so easily convinced. But as the strangers get to know each other, a fragile connection forms. Each party sees the other as an outsider, but they also have a mutual understanding of loneliness — Isla and Sandy because they only have each other for company and Daniel because of his nerdy interests that prevent him from relating to those around him.

“I think loneliness and isolation are part of this, and I think you can feel lonely and isolated in society surrounded by people all the time as well,” explains Paxton at the post-premiere Q&A. Striking the balance between comedy and poignant sincerity was crucial to realizing the film for Paxton. And he took his time doing so. “I started writing it 10 years ago. So it took a long time, and Grant’s been there with me from the start,” says the director. His team shot the film over 28 days in August of last year, and Paxton says he’s done nothing but post-production work on it since. “We locked it last week,” he reveals to an audibly surprised audience.

But all the years of work and myriad iterations of Paxton’s story paid off. “The script had such a strong voice. It was so clear that the person who’d written the script understood this mad balance,” says Gleeson during the Q&A. “There’s so much in that film tonally.” 

In tone and in form — Isla’s folkloric recitations are accompanied by charming animation — The Incomer is a compelling cinematic experience. For every laugh-out-loud scene where the siblings shriek like gulls, there’s an unexpected bonding moment with Daniel as he comes to appreciate some of their strange customs. For every moment of hilarity where Daniel’s sketchy co-worker (played by a fantastically committed Emun Elliott) attempts to remove the siblings from the land when Daniel fails to check in with the office, there’s a heartfelt exploration of Isla’s real reasons for remaining on the isle.

“I supposed I just kept coming back to this idea of connection,” says Paxton. “Human connection, and how important that is to foster any kind of change.”