By Dan Skip Allen

Some people might remember the film “I Swear” from the controversy at the 2026 BAFTAS (British Academy of Film and Television Awards) back in February. A man yelled obscenities at Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo as they were presenting an award on stage at the event. That man turned out to be John Davidson, the focus of the movie “I’Swear” a biopic about his life. Robert Aramayo subsequently ended up winning Best Actor for his role as this man who suffered from the unusable affliction known as Tourette’s Syndrome. In hindsight, this ended up being okay, but in general, it wasn’t okay. Now, this film is coming out in the United States, so American audiences can see what all the hubbub is about. 

John Davidson (Scott Ellis Watson,Robert Armayo) is a young man who is bullied at school for saying things he shouldn’t and acting weird. This doesn’t go over very well with his classmates at school. Subsequently, he is thrown out of school for this affliction, at the time not yet diagnosed as Tourette’s Syndrome. This is very hard for his family to deal with. Causing his father to leave his mother and their four children. Fast forward 13 years later. John is on medication but isn’t happy. He lives at home with his mother, who is at her wits end with him. At a chance encounter with an old school mate of his, John is invited to dinner. His friend’s mother, Dottie (Maxine Peake), recognizes what is wrong with this man and offers to help him. This is a new beginning of the rest of his life.

Aramayo is a relatively famous British actor at a young age. He has been in popular television/streaming shows such as “Game of Thrones” and “LotR: Rings of Power”. The role of John Davidson is the best performance of his young career, though. He became this man who was debilitated with this awful ailment. He was able to capture the ticks like various curse words he used, his flying right hand, which is very dangerous if you’re on the end of it and the obscenities that come very frequently. When you think of great performances from actors who are playing people with disabilities or ailments such as this, the man that comes to mind for me is Dustin Hoffman in “Rain Man”. He became this man with Autism and savant syndrome. That’s how I felt about Aramayo in this film. I literally saw John Davidson, not the actor who portrayed him. That’s what’s called a great performance from my perspective. That’s why he won the BAFTA Award. I’m sure once American audiences see this film, they will agree with me.

Besides Aramayo, there is a pretty decent supporting cast in this movie. First off is Davison’s mother, played by Shirley Henderson (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets). She does a great job showing that a mother cares about her child but is still struggling with how to deal with her son. When Peake comes into the picture, it’s a much needed break for her. Peake shows a different side to the caregiver or mother figure, then Henderson did. Both were very effective in getting their characters’ points across. They were like two sides of the same coin in a way. Another veteran, British actor Peter Mullin, plays the handyman of a community center who offers the Aramayo character a job. These two get on pretty well after the initial Rocky first encounter. Mullin is a legend in the acting business and has done it all in his career. He is very good opposite Aramayo in a subtle, kind, gentle way. This is a fantastic supporting cast opposite Aramayo star turn.

Kirk Jones wore three hats on this production. He wrote, directed, and produced this biopic about this man who overcame tremendous odds to be an advocate for this misunderstood disease. Jones was able to get to the point of who this man was and what he became later in life. The various things like licking the lampposts and so forth were little touches that helped me as a viewer understand that this is a genuine problem, not a disability as Aramayo says multiple times. He is able to hold down a job like any normal person. He just can’t control the ticks and profanity that come with this terrible affliction. Jones also captured the little town in Scotland where this man was from. It was like a character in the story of this man’s life. That’s always a plus when the location this movie takes place in is a genuine part of the story. The small town feeling helped ground the story in reality. This was clearly a passion project for Jones, and it showed in every scene.

As someone who has a learning disability I could  emphasize with this character quite a bit. I have been dealing with a learning disability my whole life. Not to the extent of what this man or any other person who has this ailment does, but it’s my cross that I have to bear. I have a bad memory and have headaches, and I’m tired all the time. I struggle with menial labor jobs that most people can do. I was very emotional watching as people in the film eventually came to realize this man wasn’t lying. He was telling the truth as a courtroom scene clearly shows. That was the most obvious moment that affected me in the movie. No matter what this man did, he couldn’t control himself. That’s the most glaring thing about this disease. It doesn’t choose indiscriminately.  Anybody could get it and have it all over the world as a scene near the end shows. It’s also different for every person. It doesn’t choose who it wants to affect. It could literally be you.

“I Swear” is a biopic that gets it right. It’s not a birth to death story, but it hits on some of the youth years of this man and then transitions to the adult years where the story has the most impact. The relationships he has with his mother, friend’s mother, who becomes his friend, and his boss at work are the keys to this story. How they handle his affliction is the focal point of where the story was going. I was very emotional watching the  journey of this man. Aramayo well deserved to win the BAFTA for Best Actor for his performance as this man who struggled very much with this mental disease. He captured this man perfectly. From every tick and movement and curse word to boot. That is the title of the film for God’s sake. This was a tremendous film, and it’s going to be one Jones, and the entire crew who worked on it will be proud of it. It’s that good. I absolutely loved every minute of it.

5 stars