Skip to content 
With Lewis Paxton entered In theaters September 25, the director shares a list of 10 films that influenced his new comedy.
Read more for its accompanying notes for each selection.
- Predator
This is one of my favorite movies. The tonal balance between comedy and horror is truly unique, as is Robert Carlyle’s portrayal of Colhoun. I love how exciting it is too. However, the main influence on The Incomer was the score – Damon Albarn and Michael Nyman’s work is beautiful, eccentric and foreboding. Composer Tom Kingston and I approached it early on, using a similar mix of looped folk instruments and classical orchestra, although we relied exclusively on Scottish folk instruments and Gaelic vocals.
- Step brothers
I grew up on SNL comedies and especially love the work of Will Ferrell and Adam McKay. Step Brothers portrays Ferrell "mankind" trope and perfectly pairs it with John S. Reilly as a teenage stepmother. In The Incomer, siblings were always supposed to be in a state of arrested development after their parents left. Step Brothers are done "Adults act like childish siblings" Dynamic so brilliantly that I’ve often mentioned it comedically, even if not visually or tonally.
- Hunting wild people
We referenced Taika Waititi’s early work a lot while making this film. For me, his early films proved that you can have a hyper-specific voice – in his case, a distinctly New Zealand, Maori perspective – and still create stories with universal appeal. That’s what I wanted to do with The Incomer: tell an authentically and uniquely Scottish story that wasn’t parochial or exclusive, but accessible no matter where you come from.
- dog tooth
I am a big fan of Yorgos Lanthimos’ works. Of all the influences on The Incomer, Dogtooth might seem the closest in terms of set-up, with a pair of lead siblings brainwashed by their parents into fearing the outside world. After the initial idea for The Incomer came up, it was obviously the first film I looked at for reference – but because the setups were so similar, it got me thinking about what would make The Incomer unique. Yorgos’ films are entirely his, which made me look for what I could bring to The Incomer that was uniquely my own.
- Edward Scissorhands
This is one of my favorite movies of all time. The mix of offbeat comedy and dark fairy tale is so special that it strikes a brilliant balance between a dark tone and huge heart, yet still feels like a family film. In writing The Incomer, I thought a lot about the family movies I grew up with—movies that felt special because they brought emotionally-charged themes and risqué humor into an otherwise familial setting. I wanted to pass this on. The Incomer also shares the framing device of an Edward Scissorhands storybook: the film unfolds as if we’re being told one of Isla’s tales, as does Winona Ryder’s character telling Edward’s story to her granddaughter.
- There will be blood
It may not seem as obvious as his influence on The Comer, but in our approach to cinematography, Pat Golan and I referenced Paul Thomas Anderson more than any other filmmaker. Although The Incomer is set in the present day, it functions in many ways as a period film – the island has no electricity, relying entirely on oil and candlelight. Period cinema was our main visual test, and I think There Will Be Blood is one of the most beautiful period films ever made. The main lesson we took away from PTA was that fewer strokes worked harder. We also resisted shooting it as a traditional comedy; Although the film is obviously funny, we chose a grounded, naturalistic color palette. We felt that pushing the visuals too far towards comedy would be overwhelming and end up detracting from the humor.
- Predator
Possibly my favorite movie ever (although it changes regularly between this and about a dozen others). Watching a VHS copy on TV was life-changing for me as a little boy. There’s a predator joke in The Incomer , delivered beautifully by comedian Neil Brechpeace (who’s also a big fan of the film). You can also see its influence in the third act when the siblings start choosing Rosie’s landlords – Sandy even gets one of her own. "here" A moment like the little man with the banana.
- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
These films are often referenced in the script because Daniel is passionate about them – so much so that he claims to have written them himself. I wanted to show how storytelling serves as a vital bridge for human connection. Isla and Sandy rely on oral storytelling to entertain and understand their story, so I wanted Daniel to bring the iconic mainland myth with him; LOTR was perfect because it’s so common and loved. (Plus, since Domhnall was in Star Wars and Harry Potter, referencing either of those franchises would be too meta!)
- Pan’s Labyrinth
Guillermo del Toro is among my favorite filmmakers, and Pan’s Labyrinth is the gold standard for using a dark tale to explore deep psychological trauma. This was something I wanted to build on in The Comer, where Isla uses folktales to work through difficult aspects of her upbringing and heritage. I love monsters and Del Toro does them better; I often relied on his creature design philosophy when conceiving Finn Man.
- Monty Python and the Holy Grail
One of my earliest memories of a comedy film, this movie completely shaped my taste for absurdist, hilarious humor. This is my favorite Monty Python project for its sheer anarchy and mayhem. It’s also wonderfully British in the way it uniquely celebrates the trashy and banal. His influence on The Incomer is clearest in the bird attack scene, where I heavily referenced the infamous killer rabbit attack.
