Uniquely inventive, darkly funny Scottish debut features stars Domhnall Gleeson, Gayle Rankin and Grant O’Rourke
EIFF will run from 13 – 19 August 2026
Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) has announced today that Edinburgh-born filmmaker Louis Paxton’s spirited and witty debut film, The Incomer will open its 79th edition, running from 13 – 19 August 2026.
The Focus Features and Universal Pictures International film, stars Domhnall Gleeson (Ex Machina, The Paper), Gayle Rankin (House of The Dragon, Glow) and Grant O’Rourke (Outlander) with ensemble cast including John Hannah (Sliding Doors, The Last of Us) Michelle Gomez (Green Wing, Doom Patrol) and Emun Elliott (The Gold Sexy Beast).
The Incomer is set on a remote Scottish island and follows siblings Isla (Rankin) and Sandy (O’Rourke) who have lived in peaceful isolation for decades, hunting seabirds, chatting to mythic creatures and defending their isle from dreaded Incomers. Their world is upended with the arrival of Daniel (Gleeson), an awkward council worker, tasked with uprooting them to the mainland.
Written and directed by bold new filmmaking talent Louis Paxton, the film won the NEXT Innovator Award at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.
Produced by Bafta winner Shirley O’Connor and Emily Gotto and co-produced by Wendy Griffin, The Incomer has been praised by critics and audiences for its wit, heart and independent spirit.
The film is supported by the BFI (awarding National Lottery funding), Screen Scotland with additional support from musician Moby and Lindsay Hicks’ U.S. production company Little Walnut, Trevor Noah’s Day Zero Productions, UK’s Head Gear Films and Ireland’s Inevitable Pictures.
The Incomer will be released by Universal Pictures International in the UK and Ireland later this year.
EIFF CEO and Festival Director, Paul Ridd has said: “With wit, grace and intelligence, this striking, unpredictable and beautifully acted Scottish debut dazzled, moved and amused us immensely when we first saw it back in January.
“We are thrilled to open this year’s edition with a film which embodies such a stirring and inspiring spirit of creativity, empathy and invention in filmmaking. This is precisely the kind of film that EIFF is all about.”
Film Producers, Shirley O’Connor and Emily Gotto said: “It’s such an honour to open Edinburgh with this film. Shooting in Scotland with this exceptional cast and crew was a genuinely special experience and bringing that work home to a Scottish audience means everything to us.
“Huge thanks to EIFF, and all our partners, including Screen Scotland, who helped get us here.”
Director Louis Paxton said: “Opening the Edinburgh International Film Festival with my debut feature is a dream come true.
“Screening in my beloved hometown, and the festival where I started as a teenage usher, sharing this story with a Scottish audience, is nothing short of mind-blowing. I couldn’t ask for a more meaningful premiere.”
Kezia Williams, Managing Director UK & Ireland, at Universal Pictures International commented: “We’re delighted to see The Incomer open this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival. Louis Paxton has made a wonderfully distinctive film, firmly rooted in Scotland, full of character and heart.
“We’re proud to be bringing it to audiences across the UK and Ireland.”
Isabel Davis, Executive Director of Screen Scotland said: “Louis is bringing it home following The Incomer’s triumph at Sundance earlier this year.
“It marks an extraordinarily assured debut feature. This singular story of a remote community on Scotland’s Far North coast feels truly distinctive, something that could only have come from here.”
Mia Bays, Director of the BFI Filmmaking Fund, said: “Opening the 2026 Edinburgh Film Festival with The Incomer means a great deal to us.
“It’s a terrific film made by Louis, Emily, Shirley and team that looks at Scottish island life, sibling relationships and the quiet forms of loneliness that shape people — but it does so with such generosity and bright humour.
“Watching Daniel (Domhnall Gleeson) reassess the world he’s taken for granted when he meets Isla and Sandy (the peerless Gayle Rankin and Grant O’Rourke) is both moving and gloriously funny.
“We are grateful to Paul Ridd and team for centring such bold, character driven storytelling and cannot wait to experience the response to it from a homegrown and internationally blended crowd.”
EIFF’s invigorated vision under leadership from CEO and Festival Director Paul Ridd and Festival Producer Emma Boa continues to accelerate the discovery of new film talent and engage with audiences, industry members and local, national and international media.
More information will be released on the shape of the 2026 Festival, venues and key strategic partners in the coming months.
EIFF 2026 is supported by Screen Scotland.
The EIFF team continues to create a world-class showcase for independent film and filmmaking talent.
The Festival is supported by a Board chaired by Andrew Macdonald of DNA Films, producer of the iconic Edinburgh-based film Trainspotting, including Vice Chair Amy Jackson, producer of BAFTA award-winning indie, Aftersun; Peter Rice, former Chairman of General Entertainment at Disney and President of 21st Century Fox; Teresa Moneo, producer and former Director of UK Film, Netflix; Isla Macgillivray, Partner at Saffery; and gaming executive Romana Ramzan.
