# I Swear (film)
*I Swear* is a 2025 British biographical comedy-drama directed and written by Kirk Jones about John Davidson, a Scottish Tourette syndrome campaigner, with [Robert Aramayo](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-aramayo) starring as Davidson as an adult and Scott Ellis Watson as him as a boy.[1](https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/news/i-swear-movie-netflix-us-release-date-august-2026/) • [2](https://www.screen.scot/film-in-scotland/made-in-scotland/film/2025/i-swear) Set in 1980s Britain and filmed in Scotland, the film follows Davidson from adolescence, when his tics began, through his adult work campaigning for understanding of a condition that was then little known and widely misunderstood.[2](https://www.screen.scot/film-in-scotland/made-in-scotland/film/2025/i-swear) • [3](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/iswear)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and writer | Kirk Jones, his sixth feature-length film[4](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/i-swear) • [5](https://www.luxfilmfest.lu/en/movies/i-swear/) |
| Subject | John Davidson, Tourette syndrome campaigner, awarded an MBE by Queen Elizabeth II in 2019[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/i_swear_2025) |
| Principal cast | Robert Aramayo, Peter Mullan, Maxine Peake, Shirley Henderson, Scott Ellis Watson[2](https://www.screen.scot/film-in-scotland/made-in-scotland/film/2025/i-swear) |
| Premiere and release | World premiere at Toronto International Film Festival, September 2025; UK and Ireland cinemas 10 October 2025 (StudioCanal); US wide release 24 April 2026 (Sony Pictures Classics)[2](https://www.screen.scot/film-in-scotland/made-in-scotland/film/2025/i-swear) • [6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/i_swear_2025) |
| Runtime and rating | 121 minutes; rated R in the US for some violence and language throughout[4](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/i-swear) • [6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/i_swear_2025) |
| Budget and financing | Roughly $3.8 million, financed entirely by director Kirk Jones selling his family home[7](https://au.variety.com/2026/film/features/i-swear-director-robert-aramayo-bafta-speech-n-word-scandal-35883/) |
| Major awards | BAFTAs 2026: Best Leading Actor and EE Rising Star Award (Aramayo), Best Casting; British Independent Film Awards 2025: Best Lead Performance and Best Casting[7](https://au.variety.com/2026/film/features/i-swear-director-robert-aramayo-bafta-speech-n-word-scandal-35883/) • [5](https://www.luxfilmfest.lu/en/movies/i-swear/) |
## Spoilers
### Story and subject
The film opens in 2019 at [Buckingham Palace](https://www.edgepedia.org/buckingham-palace), where Davidson, nervous about his tics, shouts an obscenity in front of Queen Elizabeth II as he receives his MBE, then flashes back to 1983, when he was a confident 12-year-old and promising goalkeeper in Galashiels, Scotland.[8](https://theweek.com/culture-life/film/i-swear-a-warm-hearted-comedy-drama) • [9](https://apnews.com/article/e66b1d03d79180374704ecc656598209) As the tics begin, he is ridiculed at school, where the headmaster straps his hands with a leather belt, and at home, where his mother Heather ([Shirley Henderson](https://www.edgepedia.org/shirley-henderson)) cannot cope and his father David ([Steven Cree](https://www.edgepedia.org/steven-cree)) eventually abandons the family; the film depicts an attempted suicide during this period.[10](https://childrenandmedia.org.au/movie-reviews/movies/i-swear) • [9](https://apnews.com/article/e66b1d03d79180374704ecc656598209) • [11](https://time.com/article/2026/04/21/i-swear-true-story-john-davidson/)
The story resumes thirteen years later with Davidson at 25, still living with his mother and feeling like a burden, until Dottie Achenbach ([Maxine Peake](https://www.edgepedia.org/maxine-peake)), a friend's mother, offers him acceptance, a place to stay, and his first job.[11](https://time.com/article/2026/04/21/i-swear-true-story-john-davidson/) • [12](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/i-swear) Davidson's real-life advocacy is central to the film's argument, stated in his own words in the film, that "the problem isn't Tourette's - the problem is that people don't know enough about Tourette's."[9](https://apnews.com/article/e66b1d03d79180374704ecc656598209) Davidson himself is credited as an executive producer, which reviewers cited as anchoring the film's authenticity.[13](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/john-davidson-tourettes-tics-i-swear-baftas-controversy-b2927031.html)
Sources differ on the age at which Davidson was diagnosed: [Sony Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/sony-pictures)' synopsis says 14, while Rotten Tomatoes and the [British Council](https://www.edgepedia.org/british-council) database say 15.[3](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/iswear) • [6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/i_swear_2025) • [4](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/i-swear) Davidson was born in Galashiels in 1971 and began exhibiting symptoms at age 10, according to a contemporary press account.[8](https://theweek.com/culture-life/film/i-swear-a-warm-hearted-comedy-drama)
## Production
Kirk Jones, previously known for *[Waking Ned](https://www.edgepedia.org/waking-ned)* (1998) and *Nanny McPhee* (2006), wrote and directed the film, his sixth feature.[5](https://www.luxfilmfest.lu/en/movies/i-swear/) To keep creative control over the script and casting, he put up the film's roughly $3.8 million budget himself, selling his family home to do so; he told *Variety* this financing arrangement gave him complete control and made the shoot the best experience he had had on a film set.[7](https://au.variety.com/2026/film/features/i-swear-director-robert-aramayo-bafta-speech-n-word-scandal-35883/) The film was produced by Jones, Georgia Bayliff, and Piers Tempest through One Story High (Ireland) and Tempo Productions (UK), with James Blann as cinematographer and Stephen Rennicks as composer.[4](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/i-swear) It shot on location in Scotland, including East Dunbartonshire, North Lanarkshire, and Glasgow, and received support through Screen Scotland's Recce Fund.[2](https://www.screen.scot/film-in-scotland/made-in-scotland/film/2025/i-swear)
## Release
*I Swear* premiered at the [Toronto International Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/toronto-international-film-festival) in September 2025 and screened at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2026.[2](https://www.screen.scot/film-in-scotland/made-in-scotland/film/2025/i-swear) • [4](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/i-swear) It opened in UK and Irish cinemas on 10 October 2025 through [StudioCanal](https://www.edgepedia.org/studiocanal).[2](https://www.screen.scot/film-in-scotland/made-in-scotland/film/2025/i-swear) Sony Pictures Classics gave it a wide US theatrical release on 24 April 2026, where it grossed $924.4 thousand.[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/i_swear_2025) On streaming, it reached Netflix UK and Ireland on 11 March 2026 under a first-window deal with StudioCanal, spending 30 days in the UK and Ireland top 10 charts, and arrived on Netflix US on 22 August 2026 under Sony Pictures' first-window deal.[1](https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/news/i-swear-movie-netflix-us-release-date-august-2026/)
## Reception
The film scored 96% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 138 reviews, with a critics consensus crediting Robert Aramayo's "knockout performance" and noting that the film "doesn't sugarcoat the challenges of Tourette syndrome"; its audience score was 98%.[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/i_swear_2025) On Metacritic it scored 70 from 28 critics, with 23 positive, 5 mixed, and none negative.[14](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/i-swear/)
Reviewers consistently singled out Aramayo. The *Guardian*'s Peter Bradshaw called it "an absorbing, compassionate film";[5](https://www.luxfilmfest.lu/en/movies/i-swear/) *The Times* described his turn as "technically precise and heart-rending";[14](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/i-swear/) and Time Out noted that some 300,000 children and adults in the UK live with [Tourette syndrome](https://www.edgepedia.org/tourette-syndrome) whose condition would be better understood because of the film.[14](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/i-swear/) Critics also noted the film's conventional biopic structure: *The New York Times* called it "a hackneyed survivor's story with cartoon villains, cardboard saints," while the Associated Press found it "moving if also occasionally cloying."[14](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/i-swear/) • [9](https://apnews.com/article/e66b1d03d79180374704ecc656598209)
## Awards and the BAFTA incident
At the British Independent Film Awards in 2025 the film won Best Lead Performance and Best Casting.[5](https://www.luxfilmfest.lu/en/movies/i-swear/) It received five BAFTA nominations and won Best Casting, and in February 2026 Aramayo won Best Leading Actor, beating [Leonardo DiCaprio](https://www.edgepedia.org/leonardo-dicaprio) and [Timothée Chalamet](https://www.edgepedia.org/timothee-chalamet), as well as the EE Rising Star Award.[7](https://au.variety.com/2026/film/features/i-swear-director-robert-aramayo-bafta-speech-n-word-scandal-35883/)
The same ceremony produced the film's most publicized controversy. Davidson, attending as a special guest, involuntarily shouted a racial slur while presenters [Michael B. Jordan](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-b-jordan) and [Delroy Lindo](https://www.edgepedia.org/delroy-lindo) were on stage. The slur was initially kept in the broadcast, and the BBC and BAFTA later apologized.[9](https://apnews.com/article/e66b1d03d79180374704ecc656598209) Some viewers online called Davidson racist, not understanding that some people with Tourette syndrome experience coprolalia, a vocal tic that causes them to say things they do not mean; the Associated Press wrote that the reaction proved one of the film's central tenets.[9](https://apnews.com/article/e66b1d03d79180374704ecc656598209) Jones said Davidson was "incredibly upset" about the incident, which had been part of his life since he was 14, though never before on such a global scale.[7](https://au.variety.com/2026/film/features/i-swear-director-robert-aramayo-bafta-speech-n-word-scandal-35883/)
## References
1. [BAFTA-Winning Biopic 'I Swear' Sets US Netflix Release Date, What's on Netflix](https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/news/i-swear-movie-netflix-us-release-date-august-2026/)
2. [I Swear, Screen Scotland](https://www.screen.scot/film-in-scotland/made-in-scotland/film/2025/i-swear)
3. [I SWEAR, Sony Pictures Entertainment](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/iswear)
4. [I Swear, British Council UK Films Database](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/i-swear)
5. [I Swear, Lux Film Festival](https://www.luxfilmfest.lu/en/movies/i-swear/)
6. [I Swear (2025), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/i_swear_2025)
7. ['I Swear' Director on Selling His House to Make the Tourette's Biopic & N-Word Scandal, Variety](https://au.variety.com/2026/film/features/i-swear-director-robert-aramayo-bafta-speech-n-word-scandal-35883/)
8. [I Swear: a 'warm-hearted' comedy-drama, The Week](https://theweek.com/culture-life/film/i-swear-a-warm-hearted-comedy-drama)
9. [Movie Review: Moving but sometimes cloying, Tourette's tale 'I Swear' soars on superb acting, Associated Press](https://apnews.com/article/e66b1d03d79180374704ecc656598209)
10. [Movie review of I Swear, Children and Media Australia](https://childrenandmedia.org.au/movie-reviews/movies/i-swear)
11. [The True Story Behind I Swear and John Davidson's Journey with Tourette's, TIME](https://time.com/article/2026/04/21/i-swear-true-story-john-davidson/)
12. [I Swear, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/i-swear)
13. [I research Tourette's. Here's what I think about John Davidson's biopic, I Swear, The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/john-davidson-tourettes-tics-i-swear-baftas-controversy-b2927031.html)
14. [I Swear Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/i-swear/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Films by genre, form, and subject › Documentary and biographical films › Individual biographical and docudrama films*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license