– by Cate Marquis –
Frank, funny and uplifting, I SWEAR is a delightful biopic starring BAFTA winner Robert Aramayo as John Davidson, a Scottish man with Tourette’s Syndrome, a neurological condition that causes involuntary movements and vocalizations. And yes, he swears – although it against his will and he does not actually think what he says.
Yet despite the challenge of dealing with this condition, and people’s the lack of knowledge of it, Davidson has led an extraordinary yet ordinary life, living independently and becoming a valued member of his small Scottish town, but then also going beyond that by reaching out to help young people with Tourette’s, and becoming a speaker and author educating other people about Tourette’s. Davidson has had such a large impact in his work as an activist and educator on Tourette’s, that he was awarded a MBE by Queen Elizabeth II.
Actor Robert Aramayo, who plays Davidson in I SWEAR, won a BAFTA award, the British equivalent of an Oscar, for portraying John Davidson, in this wonderful, inspiring and entertaining film. Aramayo, who does not have Tourette’s, gives a marvelous performance, full of heart, humor and honesty, worked hard on his portrayal, researching the neurological condition and trying to accurately replicate Davidson’s tics. The result is impressively accurate, to which I personally can attest as someone who worked with people with Tourette’s in a previous career in mental health. Robert Aramayo’s performance not only is authentic, but it also allows you to see the person beyond the tics, a moving performance of heart, grit and hope in the face to discouraging odds and misunderstanding.
I SWEAR tells John Davidson’s story from early adolescence, just before his symptoms manifested, up to 2019, when he received the MBE from the queen. The movie opens just before that ceremony, when we see John Davidson (Robert Aramayo) stressing about what he might say or do during when meeting the queen, and being encouraged by his longtime friend and emotional supporter, played by Maxine Peake. The ceremony serves as a framing devise for the narrative.
Scott Ellis Watson plays the young John Davidson. What causes Tourette’s Syndrome is unknown, although it may have a genetic component, but the cause are not the subject of this film. This is a biopic focused on John Davidson’s life and experiences. Tourette’s symptoms often shows up in childhood or adolescence, as it did for Davidson at 14-years-old, short-circuiting a hoped-for soccer career and unending his family’s life. Before he was diagnosed, his tics – head-jerking, punching, outbursts of foul language – were seen as adolescent misbehavior, not the involuntary actions they actually were. At home, his parents ban him from the family dinner table, forcing to eat his meals while facing the fireplace grill because of his spitting. At school, his outbursts earn him slaps on the palm of his hand with a ruler, and eventually expulsion. When John fails to impress the soccer scout who has come to see him play, due to sore hands from beatings, he leaves the family.
We flash forward to John (now played by Aramayo) in his late 20s, living with his mother Heather (a brittle Shirley Henderson) and unable to find a job. His mother insists he stay on the medication for Tourette’s he has been given, even though it does little to control John’s symptoms. Life is pretty grim and lonely for John, but a chance meeting with an old school chum, who has recently returned from Australia, introduces him to the pal’s mother, Dottie Achenbach (Maxine Peake) a kind-hearted, upbeat, accepting psychiatric nurse, who welcomes John into their family and changes his life. Dottie has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, so John, on meeting her, says the worst possible thing: you’re going to die of cancer. Yet, Dottie shrugs it off, and nor does she blame him when, at a later point, he accidentally punches her. It’s Tourette’s, not John, in her view.
One of the challenges Americans are likely to have with this fine biopic are the Scottish accents, which are particularly thick for the children at the beginning of the film, making one long for subtitles. It gets a bit easier as the film moves forward in time, and actors Robert Aramayo, Maxine Peake, Peter Mullan and Shirley Henderson are easier to understand, or maybe it is that the ear just adjusts to hearing the accents.
Dottie soon invites John to move in with her family, giving him a room he can decorate as he likes and more freedom than he had at home. She then arranges for him to interview for a job at a community center, as the assistant to the custodian, Tommy Trotter (Peter Mullen). Tommy is a gruff fellow but he is completely unphased by John’s tics and is able to see the hard-working, reliable guy he really is.
This is not a documentary, so not everything in Davidson’s life is included, and in fact, director/writer Kirk Jones leans more into the positive side. While John Davidson is not a well-known figure here in the U.S., it is a different story in Britain, where he has been the subject of three documentaries, at ages 16, 30 and 37. Those documentaries, apparently are more complete and “warts and all” than this affectionate narrative film, so British audiences will notice what has been left out or smoothed over in this biopic. Still, there is great admiration for Davidson in Britain, even if those viewers will notice the ups-and-downs that have been left out.
Director Jones often handles various incidents with John’s Tourette’s symptoms with a light, almost comic touch. When John has his verbal outburst upon meeting Dottie, and later with the punch, he is embarrassed and apologetic, while Dottie is shrugs it off or jokes about it. An incident with Tommy’s dog get a similar slightly comic touch. An accidental punch in a bar, which connects with another patron, sets off a brawl and an encounter with the police. Dottie comes to the rescue, bailing him out and explaining to the authorities about Tourette’s, while John confiding to her secretly that the brawl was the most fun night of his life. Her understanding reactions normalizes things for John, while Aramayo’s deft acting shows us John’s true character as a good-hearted human being, not matter what trouble or misunderstandings his involuntary actions may cause.
Aramayo brilliantly portrays John as both an ordinary person and an extraordinary one at the same time. One of the things about Tourette’s is that its’ manifestations get worse under stress, and as John learns to relax, with Dottie’s and Tommy’s encouragement, he is better able to control or compensate for his tics. John’s growing confidence allows him to shine as a valued member of the community and to help others with Tourette’s, as well as serving as an educator to the country at large.
The real John Davidson does not consider himself handicapped, because in his view, his problems stem from people’s lack of knowledge about Tourette’s rather than the tics and involuntary vocalizations themselves. When the parent of a teenage girl with Tourette’s asks John to speak to her, John comes to recognize that he can help others with Tourette’s, as well as providing the film with a funny, frank scene where he meets the girl while sitting in the backseat of her family car, and the two of them exchange verbal explosions until they can relax with each other.
I SWEAR is uplifting, funny and entertaining as well as informative about a neurological condition of which too few are aware. The warm, often humorous biopic is lifted further by remarkable, appealing performances, not just from award-winner Robert Aramayo but by Maxine Peake and Peter Mullan as significant influences in John Davidson’s extraordinary, accomplished life.
I SWEAR opens in theaters on Friday, Apr. 24, 2026.
RATING: 3.5 out of 4 stars
