I Swear is based on the true story of John Davidson, who at the age of thirteen was diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome. The film documents how his life was impacted by this condition and how John would go on to be awarded an MBE for his services to those also living with Tourette’s. 

I Swear is the sort of film I often struggle to write reviews for in a manner that offers a balanced viewpoint. While I found it to be both incredibly moving and entertaining it’s also a film I have absolutely no intention of watching again. The reason for that is whilst full of emotional and funny moments that help achieve its goal of sharing information about the medical condition that is its focus, it offers no other element that intrigues me. It is a dramatised documentary to some extent which means you will also lose some accuracy due to the dramatic license applied to the filmmaking process.

John is played exceptionally well by Scott Ellis Watson as a teenager and Robert Aramayo as an adult. Both manage to deliver the performance in a believable manner that elicits humour, anger and sadness. The family and social impacts that occur around John as his symptoms develop, he receives a diagnosis and then struggles to live with the condition are also incredibly affecting. 

The teenage scenes at home, in school and on the football pitch show the huge amounts of confusion about what is happening, the disbelief that this is not just a boy having a joke and the utter rejection that follows are handled with delicacy. Those that follow John as an adult show that acceptance is possible with knowledge and feature some good work from the likes of Maxine Peake and Peter Mullan. 

The overall result of all of this then are some incredibly emotional moments that will make you laugh and cry. More importantly they will also give you some empathetic insights into how the condition impacts the families as well as the sufferers. 

So why will I never seek this film out again? Because ultimately it feels like the goal was to provide an informational film, something to educate the public. As a result each individual scene feels episodic as the filmmakers repeatedly ask, “how does John manage this situation?” There were moments when I started to feel disconnected from the characters involved because it was less about them and more about answering that question.

Cinematically it has no flourishes and feels like an episode of British slice of life television drama. Once it has been seen and imparted its biopic documentary materials into your mind there are no embellishments or moments of intrigue to return for. 

So, I Swear is a film you will enjoy. It just holds nothing cinematically beyond that fleeting moment.