I Swear Review: BAFTA-winning biopic is a moving look at Tourette Syndrome advocate John Davidson

PLOT: Based on the life story of Tourette’s Syndrome campaigner John Davidson, MBE. Set in 1980s Britain, the story follows him through his troubled teens and early adulthood, exploring this little-known and entirely misunderstood condition and his attempts to live a ’normal’ life against the odds.

REVIEW: Like many teens who grew up in the 80s and 90s, I used to throw around phrases that, while considered appropriate at the time, are now considered slurs. I remember regularly swearing or hearing people spout profanity and casually calling it Tourette’s Syndrome without thinking about what the diagnosis actually was. Film and television productions have often reduced Tourette’s to stereotypes and cliches of yelling the worst, out-of-context things, and turning it into a joke. While the BAFTA ceremony was both a triumph in Robert Aramayo’s win for Best Actor and a controversy due to John Davidson’s uncontrollable outburst during Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo’s appearance, the spotlight on the illness has thrust it back into the mainstream. I Swear, the true story of John Davidson’s life coping with Tourette’s Syndrome, is getting a global release, and the film is every bit as good as the acclaim it received following its 2025 theatrical run in the United Kingdom. An inspiring and touching portrait of Tourette’s Syndrome, I Swear is a wonderfully made movie.

In the 1980s, John Davidson was just a normal Scottish teenager who excelled at playing soccer and was excited to start at his new school. But, while other kids dealt with regular puberty, John began developing odd tics and random shouting of profanity. At a loss, John and his mother Heather (Shirley Henderson) contend with his diagnosis of Tourette’s through medication. Years later, adult John (Robert Aramayo) runs into his old friend Chris (David Carlyle), who invites him home for dinner to meet his mother, Dottie Achenach (Maxine Peake), who is dying of cancer. A mental health nurse, Dottie, takes a liking to John and invites him to move in with them, where she weans him off his medication and teaches him how to cope with his diagnosis. Becoming very close, Dottie helps John get a job working at the local rec center for Tommy Trotter (Peter Mullan). John’s life improves in some ways, but his uncontrollable outbursts put him in trouble with strangers and the law. Throughout the film, we see the highs and lows of John Davidson’s life.

Capturing the struggle of a very extreme case of Tourette’s, I Swear works as a triumphant story of perseverance despite a lack of common understanding of the illness. Robert Aramayo, who studied the real John Davidson as well as others diagnosed with Tourette’s, embodies all of John’s tics and obsessive-compulsive rituals without ever turning them into comedy. Within the film, John says that sometimes his tics are funny and make people laugh, but they are never intentional. It is hard not to laugh when you hear John say some off-the-wall statement or something incongruously vulgar, but it becomes heartbreaking when he says something that ruins an otherwise serious moment. The inability of John to prevent his tics or swearing is likened to holding in a sneeze, and Aramayo does a phenomenal job of embodying the daily struggle that John experiences to this day. Unable to take exams to go to college or even maintain a romantic relationship, John is alone with his diagnosis, other than the surrogate mother he found in Dottie.

Because John Davidson would go on to be honored by Queen Elizabeth as a Member oft he British Empire (MBE), a milestone recreated in the film, it could have been easy to turn I Swear into a Forrest Gump-esque underdog story. Over the two-hour film, we see John fail or struggle more often than succeed, but when he decides to become a mentor to others with Tourette’s, it is a wonderful moment that is not exploited for melodrama. Robert Aramayo shocked many by beating Michael B. Jordan and Timothée Chalamet for Best Actor at the BAFTAs, but it was a well-earned trophy for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power star. Aramayo not only faithfully recreates John Davidson’s physical mannerisms but also transforms himself into the Tourette’s advocate over the course of his life. The transformation is equally impressive from Maxine Peake, who makes Dottie into the mother figure anyone would want to help them through their troubles. Shirley Henderson and Peter Mullan are excellent in small but pivotal roles in the film, but I Swear is a showcase for Aramayo.

Writer/director Kirk Jones has had a varied career, beginning with the 1998 indie hit Waking Ned, followed by 2005’s family fantasy Nanny McPhee. Jones directed a pair of romantic comedies, followed by My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 in 2016, but none of his prior films compares to I Swear. Both as an accurate portrayal of John Davidson’s life and as a realistic portrayal of Tourette’s Syndrome, Jones delivers a film that is funny without forcing the humor and balances a human story with human characters. There is no main antagonist other than the diagnosis itself, but I Swear shows the way that a life-altering illness can impact how the world perceives a person and vice versa. There are hard moments that work because Jones lets them play out as they would in real life. This is not a movie that wallows in sadness or creates artificial happiness and positivity, but it is full of both. Having hired Robert Aramayo without an audition, Kirk Jones clearly saw something special in what the actor could bring to the role, and it is clear on screen that this is an ideal combination of filmmaker and star.

Deeply Scottish, I Swear is an easy movie to get into that requires no knowledge of Tourette’s Syndrome, just an open mind to learning about what John Davidson’s struggles have been. Balancing the funny and the sad, I Swear is a perfect example of inspirational storytelling done well. This is not a movie that revolutionizes the genre or reinvents filmmaking, but it is nonetheless a great movie. Sincere almost to a fault, I Swear is not a feel-good story, but one that makes you feel things as you watch it. I Swear is worth seeing for the performances of Aramayo and newcomer Scott Ellis Watson, who plays Davidson as a child. Rich with vulnerability, Robert Aramayo delivers one of the most authentic and touching performances of the year in a movie that is impossible to dislike.

I Swear opens in North America on April 24th.