MA 15+, 120 minutes
4 Stars
Review by © Jane Freebury
There are some damn fine reasons to watch this biopic about the life of a Scottish disability activist who has advocated for compassion and appreciation of his debilitating condition. It starts in the present before arcing back to the point when Tourette syndrome begins to take hold of him, an outwardly typical teenager, and picks up as symptoms intensify and impact his family and life as an adult.
Robert Aramayo’s performance as John Davidson is simply brilliant. Quiet and self-effacing one moment, wildly disruptive the next, then stricken with remorse.
As the violent facial and body tics and involuntary expletives began to appear, the confusion and frustration of his parents and his teachers is not that hard to understand. The punitive default position that considered the behaviour just insolence and bad manners, somewhat less so. The 1980s, when John Davidson was growing up, were aeons ago in terms of social awareness of the disability. It earned him a caning at school and banishment from the family dinner table to a spot on the floor where he could spray food at the loungeroom fireplace.
as outbursts begin, they are irresistibly, shockingly, momentarily hilarious
When life was too much, young John would take himself to the riverside for a spot of fishing, a pastime free of complicated human interactions. The countryside of West Scotland where I Swear is set, standing in for the border country where he grew up, is gorgeous.
When his outbursts begin, they are irresistibly, shockingly, momentarily hilarious. He was a kind of involuntary disrupter. Do we need to ask ourselves if it is okay to laugh, in the circumstances? Did the late Queen smile to herself as she carried on as usual after he had yelled ‘F..k the Queen’ at her at the start of the ceremony at which he was awarded an MBE?
Aramayo has such impressive range. From young Ned Stark in Game of Thrones to this performance-led, modestly produced feature from Kirk Jones. During the era of Lord of The Rings, Aramayo wore elf’s ears in his role as the young version of Elrond (Hugo Weaving). Scott Ellis Watson does himself proud as the young teenage Davidson in the early scenes too. When he was just another sibling around the dinner table with the rest of his family, and his dad had ambitions for him to become a champion soccer goalie.
Davidson was confident, nay cocky, and had things going for him before Tourette came to stay. Shirley Henderson is heart-breaking as his mother Heather, rendered single mum, and left alone for many years with an adult son she didn’t understand and/or adequately support.
the lead performance by Robert Aramayo is astonishing
The film written and directed by Kirk is not as strong as the astonishing central performance by Aramayo, who has now been awarded two BAFTAs, and young Ellis Watson. Its second half would have made more impression with a tighter edit, and it does lag a bit. Despite the lively warmth and encouragement offered by a voluntary surrogate carer Dottie (Maxine Peake), a mate’s mum who, on impulse, offered Davidson a new home with her own family. She took an active interest in John’s wellbeing and helped immeasurably with his personal development.
This new foster home became a haven where he developed the confidence to apply for and hold a job as an assistant caretaker at the local community centre. In time, he has become a widely recognised campaigner, conducting workshops and guidance for better understanding of people with Tourette syndrome.
Writer-director Kirk’s previous films include some Hollywood projects like What to Expect When You’re Expecting. Earlier on he made Waking Ned Devine, a sweet-natured comedy that seemed to suggest that a scam didn’t really matter that much among friends.
This is the first of several films about Davidson. A documentary John’s Not Mad, was made for the BBC in 1989, while he was still a teenager. Audiences must have wondered how he would manage his future. Whenever noticing people like him in the street, unable to control shouting insults or manage their nervous tics, I’ve wondered whether Tourette syndrome was a significant cause of homelessness.
In I Swear, we see the man himself in snippets of actuality footage before the final credits roll, in the ‘based on a true story’ trope of the person in real-life that is standard in biopics these days. They are poignant moments.
Published in the Canberra Times on 27 March 2026. Also published on Rotten Tomatoes