The Incomer

If you’ve fallen under the spell of House of the Dragon’s determined-to-marry-well witch, Alys Rivers, you’ll surely be drawn to Gayle Rankin’s wild turn in Scottish filmmaker Louis Paxton’s beguilingly debut, The Incomer.

Rankin plays Isla, one half of an exceedingly strange, semi-feral sibling duo completed by Outlander star Grant O’Rourke as her softer, jollier-in-spirit brother, Sandy. They’ve been isolated on a remote island somewhere off the northeastern coast of Scotland, with their parents little but unreliable memories.

Marrying the dark anarchy of Lord of the Flies with a dash of Limbo’s kooky, bruised heart, Paxton delivers a furiously funny piece of folklore. He’s aided in by animation director Selina Wagner’s charcoal-drawn animated sequences, which reveal that the island once teemed with locals. They were apparently betrayed by the wily mainlanders.

An unrecognisable Four Weddings and a Funeral star John Hannah’s tricksy, Gollum-like selkie who lingers in the rocky shallows is another danger, wheedling at Isla and Sandy to join him in the murky depths. Hannah is marvellously menacing, with make-up and prosthetics designer Siobhán Harper-Ryan giving him a sharp-toothed smile and blubbery skin.

The siblings’ dad went into the sea to keep these creatures at bay. He also taught his bizarre kids to defend the isle, insisting the only good mainlanders are those bludgeoned with a cudgel or hoiked off the cliffs. Isla and Sandy ceremonially adopt the likeness of seagulls to do so, with The Lobster costume designer Sarah Blenkinsop giving Rankin and O’Rourke feathered capes with hollow-eyed and beaked masks. 

Debutant Paxton delivers a furiously funny piece of Scottish folklore 

This is how they face down the interloper of the title, Daniel, a Tolkien-obsessed geek of a council worker played by Domhnall Gleeson. He’s been sent to evict the siblings from the supposedly uninhabited island by his sneering boss (Doctor Who’s Michelle Gomez chewing the scenery). He has back-up from colleague Callum (a fantastic Emun Elliott), who fancies himself as a Bear Grylls type and brings gallons of his own piss to stay hydrated.

Mayhem ensues, as Daniel becomes increasingly swayed by the siblings’ wayward charms. All three actors deliver joyously silly physical comedy. There’s a very funny The Lord of the Rings pastiche and sight gags aplenty, including a running joke involving a very pink and bendy dildo, a choice item of flotsam that’s been washed ashore. Cinematographer Patrick Golan makes the most of the astonishing Highlands locations.

Closer in spirit to the ruggedly romantic Wicker than the sacrificial scares of The Wicker Man, The Incomer is a delightfully dotty film that adds a twist of Yorgos Lanthimos to its Celtic spirit. It’ll make you ‘ca-caw’ like a seagull.

In UK and Ireland cinemas Fri Sep 4. In US theaters Sep 25.