I Swear

Growing up with Tourette syndrome in a small Scottish town in the mid-1980s, John Davidson (Robert Aramayo) fights the odds to eventually become a trail-blazing, decorated activist and advocate for his peers in the United Kingdom. Based on a true story.

The title of director Kirk Jones’s film has a clear double meaning. “I Swear” refers to the curse words constantly coming out of the protagonist John Davidson’s mouth, and his repeated pledge that they are unintentional and he cannot control them. It is a perfect synthesis of the fine line the movie skilfully treads: acknowledging both how funny Davidson’s involuntary tics and cursing may first seem and how painful and difficult they can make his life.

The result is a British “kitchen-sink dramedy” that never shies away from the challenges faced by the young Scot, diagnosed at a time when little was publicly known about Tourette syndrome. What seems like a simple nightclub excursion is for Davidson a suspenseful undertaking, but filmmaker Kirk Jones chooses to focus instead on the people who lifted and supported him. With the help of a great cast led by Robert Aramayo, who makes Davidson a fully-rounded human and not a one-note gag, the director delivers a crowd-pleaser that invites sympathy, showing the importance of education, understanding and acceptance.

– Daniel Oliveira