Directed by Kirk Jones, I Swear brings to life the true story of John Davidson, a Scottish teenager diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome at a time when the condition was barely understood. Set against the backdrop of the late 1980s, the film captures John’s battle not only with the involuntary tics that mark his condition but also with a society quick to stigmatise what it doesn’t understand.
At the film’s heart is John’s involvement with the groundbreaking BBC documentary John’s Not Mad. While the documentary offered him a chance to be seen, it also exposed him to misunderstanding, ridicule, and an avalanche of public scrutiny. I Swear explores this duality: the liberation of visibility and the trauma of being turned into a spectacle.
Robert Aramayo embodies John with a mix of vulnerability and quiet resilience, supported by a cast including Maxine Peake and Peter Mullan, who ground the narrative in family and community. The story does not shy away from John’s pain but balances it with humour, empathy, and determination. More than a biopic, I Swear is a meditation on representation, reminding us how narratives about difference are shaped — and mis-shaped — by media, and what it costs individuals to become unwilling pioneers for awareness.
UK Release: 10 October 2025.