I Swear (article)

Published by Mason Oldridge, 21 April 2026

I Swear is a biographical drama film based on the life of tourettes sufferer and activist John Davidson. He has starred in the QED documentaries John’s Not Mad (1989), The Boy Can’t Help It (2002) and Tourettes: I Swear I Can’t Help It (2009). The film was released in October 2025 but encountered renewed interest a couple of months ago following an incident surrounding Davidson at the 2026 BAFTAs. Here, we take a look at the groundbreaking film.

First of all, Scott Ellis Watson deserves the utmost praise for his portrayal of a younger John in the earlier scenes depicting his childhood in which the condition starts. He starts ticcing at home, messing up his chance of being scouted as a goalkeeper and leading to his father walking out on the family, and starts ticcing at school too, resulting in multiple whippings from his headteacher, getting into a fight and being expelled from school. This all culminates in a suicide attempt by walking into a river, but he is rescued. The heart breaks for the poor boy, who endured terrible suffering, particularly at the hands of his own confusion and others’ ignorance. I was stunned to find this now well-known condition was virtually unrecognised back in the 80s.

The film then jumps to John at age 25, now portrayed by Robert Aramayo, who delivers a standout performance throughout. He lives with his mother Heather (Shirley Henderson), who struggles to understand and cope with his condition, and is medicated. The film fluctuates between heartbreaking and heartwarming scenes and the first of the more positive chapters comes when John’s friend Murray invites him round and Murray’s mother Dottie (Maxine Peake), a former mental health nurse dying of cancer who understands John’s condition, invites him to live with them permanently. She encourages him to come off his medication and tells him to never apologise for his ticcing as he cannot help it. The most heartwrenching moment is when John goes to eat on the floor in front of the fireplace, something his mother used to make him do after spitting. Watching Dottie support John results in one thought: what a remarkable woman she is.

However, as John celebrates his new life, the happiness is short-lived as he and Murray go out to a nightclub, where John becomes involved in a brawl when a tic causes him to accidentally hit someone and he is arrested.

A more upbeat scene then counteracts this as Dottie gets John a job interview at the local community centre, in which elderly caretaker Tommy (Peter Mullan) is kind to him, and he gets the job. The job interview is a particularly touching scene as, when John asks if the tourettes will be an issue, Tommy pretends to not know what John is talking about, showing it won’t be a problem for him. More good news then arrives as it turns out Dottie was misdiagnosed and her growth is benign.

The mood then takes a dark turn though as John accidentally insults a woman while out getting a takeaway and is beaten up by two thugs and cries to Dottie in hospital in a rather heavy scene.

John settles well into his job with Tommy and they discuss how the problem is not with John’s tourettes but the lack of awareness of the condition. Tommy also supports John in court after his outbursts lead him to be removed from the stand in a strong show of solidarity. Unfortunately, John soon after finds Tommy dead in his house; he is surprised when he is offered Tommy’s job.

Dottie tries to help John become more independent and encourages him to find his own place to live. He gets a flat but so-called friends take advantage of him, using him unwittingly as a drug runner. He is arrested but the drugs turn out to be fake, used as a test run, and he returns to live with Dottie. This serves to prove that tourettes sufferers can be exploited too.

John is approached by the parents of a young girl with tourettes and is able to talk to her openly about the condition from the perspective of someone who truly understands it. John then goes on to dedicate himself to raising awareness of the condition, giving tourettes workshops at the community centre and talks at schools and police stations, and is eventually made an MBE by the Queen for his activism.

John is later contacted to be a test subject for a new medical device to help with the condition by the University of Nottingham. In an emotive scene, the device allows him to calmly visit the campus library and he finds newfound confidence talking to a woman on the train home. The film then ends with hard-hitting written words appearing on the screen about tourettes awareness.

One of the things the film does perfectly is balance the difficulties of the condition with finding a light-hearted humorous side to it. The jokes were told really tastefully and managed with sensitivity. These include John revealing his hand during a card game, John painting his face while decorating his new room, John and Lucy both having a ticcing episode while Lucy’s parents concernedly look on and John proclaiming “fuck the Queen” at Holyrood Palace.

Let’s address the elephant in the room: the incident at the BAFTAs. The real John Davidson was in attendance and shouted the N word while black actors Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo were on stage. Presenter Alan Cummings apologised for the strong language but referenced the incident being caused by tourettes and Davidson left voluntarily, yet black actors Jamie Foxx and Wendell Pierce criticised the incident, with Foxx even accusing Davidson of his utterance being intentional. Despite this, Aramayo went on to win Best Actor in a Leading Role. John Davidson is nothing short of a legend, having done more to raise awareness, going as far as transforming the perception of a condition, than many others have and I would suggest to Foxx, Pierce and any other ignorant individual to watch this film and educate yourself!

I Swear is one of the most incredibly powerful films of all time, so emotional in a bittersweet manner, and handles tourettes in such a delicate manner that it could even be shown as an educational video in schools. Spunk for milk!