I Swear (2026)
SHOULD I SEE IT?
YES
Robert Aramayo’s BAFTA win for Best Actor was no hometown prize. He delivers a deeply affecting lead performance.
For a film that has every reason to fall through the biopic trap doors and lead into formula, I Swear retains an emotional authenticity that makes it feel relevant and important.
Shines a kind, honest, and considerate spotlight on Tourette’s Syndrome and leads with compassion.
NO
Can lean into convention, on occasion, with elements of the movie resembling a “highlight reel” of encounters and situations, which is almost always a frustration with movies like this.
While it humanizes Tourette’s Syndrome for general audiences, John Davidson is not well known here and I Swear may struggle to draw interest or even find a North American audience because of it.
Recent controversies involving Davidson, as referenced below, may steer people away from watching one of the best performances of the year.
OUR REVIEW
If the movie I Swear sounds like something you may have heard of recently, it arrives in North America following an unfortunate turn of events. On the night the film won two BAFTA Awards, including a surprise Best Actor prize for Robert Aramayo, the subject of the film, John Davidson, made the worst kind of headline. A sufferer of Tourette Syndrome, Davidson shouted out a racial slur during the BAFTA ceremony while Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo presented an award.
And so, yeah … I Swear is the movie about that guy. At the BAFTAs, I Swear won Best Casting and Aramayo earned the BAFTA Rising Star Award and Best Actor over fellow nominees Leonardo DiCaprio, Timothée Chalamet, Ethan Hawke, Jesse Plemons, and Jordan. And despite that big night for Aramayo and the film, the achievements took a backseat to its newfound controversies.
With awards hopes probably dashed in the United States, I Swear slides quietly into theaters hoping to find an audience. Written, directed, and produced by Kirk Jones (Nanny McPhee, My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2), Aramayo gives a riveting and, at times, simply stunning performance as Davidson, bringing humor and depth to the story of someone who was marginalized by his own family for tics and behaviors he could not control.
Davidson’s symptoms first surfaced around the age of 12, as he begins high school, and newcomer Scott Ellis Watson gives us a powerful look at how a seemingly healthy child can become overwhelmed by something he does not understand. At first, his sudden movements draw anger and frustration and Watson conveys fear and uncertainty expertly well. Then, as the tics and movements expand into involuntary cursing and shouting, Davidson’s father (Steven Cree) abandons the family and his mother (Shirley Henderson) forces her son to sit away from his siblings at dinner. She also opts for a more violent disciplinary approach to try and stop John’s behavior.
In the mid-to-late 1980s, Tourette Syndrome was something of a mystery and as Davidson matures into young adulthood, he becomes heavily medicated and treated like a burden by his mother. An old friend accepts John, as does his mother Dottie (Maxine Peake), a former nurse who recognizes John’s struggles, even as she faces medical challenges of her own.
Jones shows us that, in time, John found a home and a community that accepted him. That doesn’t mean things went smoothly. As John gets proper care, he still finds himself accidentally and uncontrollably starting physical fights, creating stinging verbal confrontations, and uncomfortable situations. People simply do not know how to respond to his outbursts.
Aramayo captures a depth of performance here that is staggering. And to Jones’ credit, he mostly avoids schmaltzy, on-the-nose dialogue and conveniently written “movie solutions” to address the issues John faces. Where some performers would find the bigger aspects of John’s condition as the mechanism to drive their performance, Aramayo digs deep into his character and builds a memorable protagonist. He pays attention to the smaller details, the differences in how John is perceived by strangers, family, and close friends, while also delivering an impeccably convincing portrayal of tics and unmotivated movement.
As a stand-in mother when his birth mother cannot handle John’s disorder, Peake is fantastic in portraying a person’s love and compassion for what John is experiencing. She grounds the movie in a wholesome acceptance that we want to see for him.
Subtlety is not a strong suit of much of Jones’ previous work and while I Swear does occasionally lapse into the formulaic cadence of most biopics, there is a kind-hearted presence that exists within the film. Because it doesn’t pander explicitly for audience acceptance, with Aramayo and Watson giving such authentic performances, we become willing participants in the grabs for the heartstring and the emotional highs and lows the film offers. We are invested in what comes next.
Now in his mid-50’s, Davidson has led quite a life. While the movie largely avoids it in its narrative, Davidson was the subject of a 1989 BBC documentary (“John’s Not Mad”) which, at 16, made him essentially the poster child of Tourette Syndrome in the U.K. His fame and celebrity are why I Swear exists, why he was at the BAFTAs, and why so many people have fallen in love with the story of his life.
Davidson is not well known stateside, resulting in I Swear becoming a bit of a hard sell in a cinematic landscape currently populated by horror films, video game adaptations, and science-fiction adventures. While the events at the BAFTAs in February 2026 are deeply disappointing and upsetting, Davidson has reportedly attempted to make amends with those impacted.
And in the end, I Swear stands as a moving, memorable testament to overcoming obstacles when no one sees any hope.
CAST & CREW
Starring: Robert Aramayo, Maxine Peake, Shirley Henderson, Peter Mullan, Scott Ellis Watson, David Carlyle, Steven Cree
Director: Kirk Jones
Written by: Kirk Jones
Release Date: April 24, 2026
Sony Pictures Classics