MIFF 2026: The Incomer

Melbourne International Film Festival 2026 is ongoing and I went to watch my twelfth session (of 13!)

This post my short review of ‘The Incomer’

For context: I am a photographer/youtuber that wants to up my cinematography and storytelling, that’s why I’m watching 13 sessions at the film festival PLUS reviewing them here on my blog!

Why did I choose to watch this?

I wasn’t sure about this one at first. But when I was looking through the movies over and over, I finally caved in for this one. The premise seems funny in an absurd way, a remote island being visited by ‘outsiders’ and what happens after that. I also haven’t watched many comedies at MIFF, ‘The Sun Never Sets’ being the first one just a day ago. And this one is just straight up comedy instead of a rom com. The weird premise reminds me of ‘Yesterday’, a comedy film that I recently watched and loved. Moreover, I recognise Domnhall Gleeson from the series ‘The Paper’ and I like his performance there, so keen to see more of him!

All images courtesy of miff.com.au

Who would I recommend this to?

Fans of the absurd comedy. A bit slapstick-ish, but also has a level of depth. Those who like their comedy to have a some meaning too. After I watched it, I do think it reminds of ‘Yesterday’, so if you are a fan of the humour in that, you’d might like this too.

Light spoilers ahead.

Structure

The intro goes strong by immediately starting with a narration, like a children’s book “once upon a time…”, and we get to see the silliness of the two main characters right away. A montage of their life on the island sets the tone of film.

Then, as the synopsis says, an “Incomer” arrived at the island. The brother and sister confronts him, but then got curious. Then it gradually build up to the climax of more people coming, more things happening. And the ending ties it all together nicely - instead of keeping it open ended - as you would expect from a light hearted movie.

I like that it’s easy to follow! Even with some flashbacks and jumps between locations, I don’t think you’d be lost in it. Feels like a silly cartoon but live action and for adults. There are even some animated parts of the story. The cursing and some themes might not be suited for kids, but perhaps suited for young adults. Very fun!

Narrative

More story spoilers here.

The way that a dorky council worker try to navigate the absurd situation is really funny. I think the setup itself is already gold. I love the creativity of the weird things that the islanders do. And the council workers really match that weirdness, so who’s to say the “mainlanders” aren’t as odd.

The bond that built up between the brother sister and the council worker is very sweet. The montage of them doing things together matches the intro montage, except the brother and sister seem happier! Only having each other is clearly hard for both of them.

I like the subtle jokes that are just seamlessly in the dialogue, I guess like any other sitcom. If I were to categorise it, it’s not quite as in-your-face as American humour, but not the dry (sometimes overly dry) British humour. Kinda in the middle, which reminds me of ‘The Office’, my number one favourite comfort show.

Cinematography

The scenes at the island are gorgeous! I kept imagining going there and making landscape photos. The comedy is integrated into the use of the camera angles, pans, and shots - I guess goes without saying. Some setups were funny just because of the camera angle, for example when the group was walking back to the house, the brother was like “I’m going to run to the house! Try and catch me!”, the zoomed off screen, then after a few seconds he zoomed the other way, blurred and really close to the camera. Not sure if that’s a good description, but I found it so funny, and it utilised the camera position well.

Outro

‘The Incomer’ is a fun and funny sitcom film that would get you laughing hard. I especially liked watching it in a cinema and laugh together in the audience, makes it extra funny I think. Love the combination of cinematography, story, and acting all coming together to make me laugh.