How Scottish Folklore, Seabirds and a Sex Toy Inspired ‘The Incomer’

Scottish writer-director Louis Paxton set out to write a contained first feature that could be shot with limited characters on an ultra-low budget. But after researching the history and myths of the Orkney islands off the Scottish coast, he ended up with a story that involves a talking sea creature, scenes in the freezing North Sea, dangerous cliffs, attacking birds, and a production designer tasked with finding just the right dildo. If you're intrigued, you're going to love The Incomer, a fairy tale of a film that deftly combines the deep pain of loneliness with humor.

In the movie, Isla (Gayle Rankin) and Sandy (Grant O'Rourke) are brother and sister who have spent 30 years living alone on a remote island. Isolated since their parents disappeared, they survive by hunting seabirds, communicating with mythical creatures, and remaining deeply suspicious of the dreaded "incomers" from the mainland. When a governmental land recovery coordinator named Daniel (Domhnall Gleeson) arrives with orders to relocate the islanders, the eccentric siblings try everything to banish him, or worse.

For Paxton, who grew up obsessed with movies and eventually made more than 20 short films before moving into television, The Incomer was his opportunity to finally make the leap into features. But the story itself began much earlier, with his family's connection to Scotland's Northern Isles.

Finding a Story in Scottish Folklore

Paxton says his Scottish heritage offered many great landscapes and stories that piqued his imagination. "We grew up playing in Neolithic abandoned grave sites and houses," says Paxton, remembering the shipwrecks and abandoned farms scattered across the area.

He became obsessed with the many islands and specific cultures that developed in these isolated places. People survived on what was available, including seabirds, and developed their own rituals and traditions before abandoning the islands they called home for centuries.

"I guess I was fascinated by the idea of the choice to leave behind a place that's been your home or your family's home for generations, and what that must be like," he says.

That idea became the emotional spine of The Incomer. Isla and Sandy may be eccentric and funny, but losing their island means losing the only world they know. Paxton also drew heavily from the mythology of Orkney and Shetland, whose cultures share historical connections with Scandinavia. That gave him access to a strain of folklore he felt hadn't been depicted much on screen.

One particularly important creature was the mythical Finman (John Hannah).

Turning Folklore Into Character

Many traditional stories from Orkney and Shetland include the Finman, a sinister sea creature associated with people disappearing or drowning. In the film, Isla repeatedly sees a Finman who looks part fish, part seal, and part human, beckoning her toward the sea.

"The Finman is a real legend," says Paxton, explaining that creatures like him helped people make sense of fishermen who drowned at sea. But for Isla, he represents a dark force brewing inside her.

"He's more this negative voice in her head that's kind of reinforcing all of her fears and trying to get her to make decisions that are not good for her." While dark, Paxton also wanted to make the Finman funny. Rather than just coaxing Isla to plunge to her death in the icy water, the creature comes up with ridiculous reasons why she should join him, including a crab with a hat on that's waiting for her. Paxton wanted the Finman to feel genuinely threatening while also being slightly incompetent at his job. This balancing act of comedy, darkness, and absurdity is what makes the story unique and compelling.

The Dildo Problem

Early in the film, Isla and Sandy discover a mysterious rubber object that has washed ashore. They stretch it, examine it, and marvel at the strange artifact without realizing what the audience immediately gets: It's a dildo.

The idea came from an actual photograph Paxton had seen. "I saw a photo of a dildo washed up on a beach," he says. "I remember thinking that was so funny, but also, what if you didn't know what that was? What would you think it was?"

For Paxton, it became a quick visual way of showing just how disconnected Isla and Sandy are from contemporary mainland life. Writing a dildo into the screenplay, however, meant that someone had to actually find the right dildo.

"I knew when I'd written that that there was going to be a day when a production designer came up to me and basically had 10 dildos," he says. That day inevitably arrived.

The filmmakers needed something the characters could plausibly fail to recognize, which meant the prop couldn't look too obviously anatomical. "They had to find one with the right wobble and the right length," Paxton says.

They also wanted the object to appear almost alien against the natural Scottish landscape, eventually choosing one that was hot pink and ridiculously stretchy.

Writing a "Low-Budget" Movie With Cliffs, Seagulls and the North Sea

Paxton intended The Incomer to be a manageable first feature. But as he wrote the script, his imagination took over, and the story became more ambitious.

"I ended up writing people being hung off cliffs, people being in the sea, people being attacked by seagulls. I could have made it simpler for myself, but I'm glad I didn't."

One strategy he recommends to filmmakers working with limited resources is finding cinematic exteriors. "A lot of interiors on low-budget films look low-budget," he says, particularly when filmmakers are forced to shoot in existing homes without enough budget to fully dress them.

The wild Scottish landscape became one of The Incomer's greatest production assets, helping Paxton create what he describes as a "lost world" without having to construct one.

Ultimately, The Incomer proves that writing for a limited budget doesn't have to mean limiting your imagination. Paxton may have set out to make a low-budget, contained first feature, but by leaning into the landscape, folklore, and wonderfully strange details of the world he knew, he created something that feels much bigger and even has a fairy tale ending.

The Incomer is now in theaters.