I Swear (2025)

Kirk Jones' work as a director on feature films has been sparse to say the least. Arguably still best known for British classic Waking Ned back in 1998, I Swear is only his sixth full length behind the camera, and the third that he has both written and directed.

Within that filmography, Jones has hit gold with Waking Ned and also Nanny McPhee (2005), yet plundered depths of which we would prefer not to speak (2012's atrocious What to Expect When You're Expecting).

So it's extremely positive to report that I Swear might be his finest work to date. The film is a biopic of John Davidson, a man who has suffered from Tourette Syndrome since exhibiting early signs of it as a teenager, and has since become an activist in teaching the nation about the condition itself; to the point that he was awarded an MBE in 2019, a scene that opens and closes the film.

Robert Aramayo plays John, in a performance that should really be up for all the big gongs come awards season- although Scott Ellis Watson is also worthy of credit for his work as the teenage John in an opening half hour or so that is a very hard watch.

Understandably the film has been billed as a comedy drama and there's no doubting there are scenes of humour to be found within what is a hugely difficult syndrome to live with; a sequence in which a grown up John gets into a car with a teenage girl with Tourette's and they both just let it all out before calming down is funny and played for laughs. But this scene perhaps also encapsulates what makes I Swear such a success- you might laugh but you feel very guilty doing so, and quickly enough you're watching through your hands again as John repeatedly gets himself in trouble through no fault of his own- struggling with a system that has no understanding whatsoever of what he's going through.

I Swear is a a tricky couple of hours, but that's not to diminish it or suggest that it's a punishing watch in the way a gritty British drama might usually be in terms of abuse, violence or anything else that we might be used to. Indeed once again this statement in itself perhaps underlies the importance of Jones' film- it helps that it's excellent, sure, but if this informs and educates people about the syndrome (we're frequently informed it's not a disease) in the way I suspect it might (myself included) then I Swear becomes a far more important film than you might initially think.

Aramayo portrays John quite astonishingly, whether you know anything about Davidson before or not. How he inflicts the ticks, swearing, twitches, clicks and whistles simply makes you feel like you're watching events all unfold in real time and it's part of the reason why it remains such a difficult viewing experience- that's very much a compliment. Peter Mullan and Maxine Peake provide excellent support and Shirley Henderson deserves enormous praise for really making you feel the struggle as John's Mum Helen- a woman whose husband was often at the pub before leaving her and the family for good when John's problems became too much for him.

Towards the end it feels a little rushed, sections feel shorter as we hit the final stretches and it will be interesting to see what ended up on the cutting room floor- but these are fairly minor quibbles. I Swear can leave you in a constant state of terror, tears ready to escape at any given moment- and as I say there are undoubtedly moments of laughter. That it brings such a topic to the forefront of people's minds can only be a good thing, but it sure as hell helps when you make a film this good to back it. 8.1/10