I Swear — i swear review: an astonishing feelgood film about life with Tourette’s

i swear, a biographical drama about Scottish campaigner John Davidson, has returned to conversation after Robert Aramayo won the Bafta for best actor for his portrayal of a Tourette syndrome campaigner. An article originally published on February 24, 2023 has been republished in the wake of that award, bringing fresh focus to the film’s depiction of tics, stigma and long-term recovery.

I Swear opens in Galashiels in 1983 and follows Davidson’s early tics

The film begins in Galashiels, Scotland, in 1983, when John Davidson entered “big school. ” It traces the first tics and the social fallout that followed: teachers and classmates dismiss the early signs as irritating, attention-seeking gestures, but the movements and sounds grow into uncontrollable motor and vocal outbursts. That early sequence establishes the film’s rendering of how symptoms first appear in childhood.

How the film treats coprolalia, motor tics and the medical definition of Tourette syndrome

I Swear makes a point of showing that swearing forms part of Davidson’s experience — the film opens with an expletive-laden outburst at his MBE ceremony — while also stressing that coprolalia affects only a small minority of people with Tourette’s. The broader condition is presented in line with clinical descriptions: Tourette syndrome is a neurological or neurodevelopmental condition named after 19th-century researcher Gilles de la Tourette, characterised by tics, which are involuntary movements or vocalisations. The film and accompanying commentary note the official definition as motor and vocal tics nearly every day over more than 12 months, and show common motor tics often involving the head and neck.

Premonitory urges, complex tics and real-life examples

The movie depicts more than simple gestures: it shows how some sequences of movement can be complex and orchestrated, such as turning in a certain direction or tapping something a certain number of times, with the sequence feeling necessary to relieve tension. That premonitory urge — likened in the material to an itch or the feeling before a sneeze, a build-up of tension relieved by the tic — is shown as something people can often recognise, and an important part of how tics are managed. The narrative also echoes real-life unpredictability: tics are shown waxing and waning over weeks and months and sometimes worsening in response to stressors such as a new school term or moving house.

Family fallout: Steven Cree’s father, a collapsed football dream and physical punishment

Davidson’s evolving condition strains his relationship with his father, played by Steven Cree, who had pinned hopes on his son’s promise as a footballer. The dream of a professional career collapses, replaced by frustration and disappointment; the consequences ripple outward to physical punishment at school and mounting conflict at home. Those elements feed a long season of withdrawal in which Davidson grows convinced Tourette’s disqualified him from work and ordinary sociability.

Allies, reintegration and a turn toward advocacy

Thirteen years on from the early crisis, the story pivots toward transformation as Davidson begins, tentatively, to reenter public life. That turn is scaffolded by allies: Dottie Achenbach, a forthright mental health nurse portrayed by Maxine Peake, and Tommy Trotter, the local hall caretaker played by Peter Mullan. They help him forge kinship beyond his family and establish that Davidson’s Tourette’s is not a moral fault requiring an apology. That recognition recalibrates his trajectory, shifting him from enforced quiet to self-acceptance and, in time, advocacy.

Critical response, authenticity and an unfinished casting debate

Reviewer commentary described the picture as an astonishing feelgood film about life with Tourette’s and praised its refusal to reduce the story to a tidy triumph. The film foregrounds ongoing struggles that are rooted not only in tics themselves — shown as painful, agonising and exhausting — but also in the ignorance and stigma that magnify suffering. Melina Malli wrote that there are a few elements that make the film about the Scottish campaigner’s life worthwhile, and highlighted how the dual dimension of disability is captured well. Robert Aramayo’s performance conveys the physicality of the tics with remarkable authenticity, and his Bafta for best actor has refocused attention on the film. At the same time, casting an actor who doesn’t have Tourette’s in the lead is described as a controversial decision that reopens the debate over disability drag; the surrounding commentary in the available text cuts off and is unclear in the provided context.

Tics in public life: from concerts to headlines

The wider material that returned to circulation alongside the film points to how tics can surface unpredictably in public settings: one noted example described how fans of singer Lewis Capaldi helped him finish a song at a concert after symptoms of his Tourette syndrome suddenly flared and temporarily prevented him from performing. Such moments, and the film’s detailed arc from first tics in Galashiels through withdrawal to advocacy, are central to why i swear has become the subject of renewed attention.