Flasz On Film

Synopsis: John Davidson is a teenager in 1980s Scotland whose life is upended when he’s diagnosed with Tourette syndrome. As his condition alienates him from friends, family, and school, John must find the courage to reclaim control of his life—turning ridicule into resolve and ultimately finding his voice as an advocate for understanding and acceptance. 

Anyone who has ever interacted with someone with Tourette syndrome or at least watched a documentary or a TikTok about it, would be able to understand that such interactions are characteristically unpredictable. Although it might be hard to believe now, especially because of increased societal awareness of this condition and hence better collective understanding and accommodation of people living with this condition, it wasn’t always pretty. Treated as disruptive and disobedient at school, punished for spurting profanities while suffering from phonic tics, unable to hold a job or live on their own, Tourette’s sufferers have never had an easy go at life.  

Which is what I Swear is here to illuminate. Based on the real-life story of John Davidson who was diagnosed with Tourette’s at the time when many people around him had very little idea what this condition was, the movie written and directed by Kirk Jones (Everybody’s Fine, What to Expect when You’re Expecting) attempts to bring this issue closer to the moviegoing public, raise awareness and perhaps force a reflection on the many tribulations and sorrows people like John Davidson must have gone through in their lives, from alienation to violent ostracism.  

Unfortunately, despite what the movie wants to achieve, this isn’t exactly what it does indeed achieve. In contrast to its central character, I Swear can only be described as predictable and formulaic. Although the filmmakers offer a fair bit of spicy comedy—as it comes with the subject matter to a great extent—the film as a whole fails to press against the parameters of its expectations as a feelgood biopic aiming to woo awards bodies. Granted, Robert Aramayo’s turn as John Davidson is likely to garner critical acclaim might result in recognition at the BAFTAs or even the Oscars, but that’s mostly it. The movie is otherwise conceptually as bland and straightforward as they come this time of year.  

In fact, I don’t think that the filmmakers had a good idea of what they wanted this story to look like, other than they knew the character of John Davidson and his life’s story lent themselves to adaption into film. The guy’s gone through a lot and his story, previously covered in a BBC documentary John’s Not Mad, is one that carries universal appeal as a quintessential underdog arc. But it needs the filmmakers to do something interesting with this material because at this point we’ve seen a number of such biopics, some more saccharine than others.  

Between My Left Foot, Mask, Lorenzo’s Oil, The Theory of Everything and many others, it’ll be remarkably easy for I Swear to quickly fade into obscurity. The movie religiously clings to a predictable formula and does very little to challenge the viewer in any appreciable way. In fact, it looks as though it only had a single card in its deck—abrupt bursts of comedy courtesy of the central character whose tics are occasionally quite funny—to mix up what otherwise shapes up to be a bucket full of viscous feelgood schmaltz. Weirdly enough though, these theoretically unpredictable moments come across as totally expected. After all, a movie about this guy simply had to feature a scene where he was being given an MBE and he shouted “Fuck the Queen” right after entering the room, just as it had to include a sequence in a court of law where John’s frequent tics would easily put him in contempt of court.  

But it’s just not enough to elevate I Swear past the base level of sappy awards bait. In between these bouts of impromptu levity, the movie runs the entire gamut of exactly what you’d expect from a movie like this. Swelling violins, familial rejection, unlikely allies (Maxine Peake and Peter Mullan show up here to deliver the goods and sing their parts without missing a note), uplifting montages, a promise of a happy ending. It’s all here.  

And at this point we must be honest with ourselves and adjust our expectations. If what you’re after is a piece of feelgood moviemaking with an uplifting story spiked with a good handful of spicy comedy, that’s exactly what you’ll find in I Swear. It’s a movie you can easily take your mum to see, and you will have a good time bonding over this story that is here to lift your spirits in the manner that does not deviate one iota from the recipe. If however, you’re looking for anything challenging or thought-provoking, you’ve wandered into the wrong neighborhood, I’m afraid.