I Swear

PALM SPRINGS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2026 REVIEW! Writer/director Kirk Jones’s I Swear tracks John Davidson’s life as his undiagnosed Tourette’s turns everyday moments — family, friendship, even basic public interactions — into high-stakes landmines. This is a real-life a story of bravery about a guy trying to claw his way toward dignity in a world that keeps demanding he “just control himself.” Our tale begins in 1983 in the Scottish town of Galashiels, where 12-year-old John (Scott Ellis Watson) dreams of becoming a football goalie. Right as a scout is set to evaluate him, his body starts betraying him with sudden tics and involuntary outbursts.

“Because of his tics, John is unable to find work, be in a relationship with a woman, or make friends.”

Unfortunately, this is something no one around him understands yet. School discipline becomes cruel as he is swatted several times before being expelled. The pressure at home grows as John is no longer allowed to eat at the family dinner table. He becomes such an embarrassment that his father walks away from John, his siblings, and his mother, Heather Davidson (Shirley Henderson). Seeing no hope, John attempts to end his life by throwing himself into the river. Twelve years later, John Davidson (Robert Aramayo) is 25, still stuck at home with his mother. However, he finally receives a Tourette’s diagnosis, which is an answer to what’s happening, yet doesn’t magically make daily life easier. Because of his tics, John is unable to find work, be in a relationship with a woman, or make friends. He is the constant target of ridicule around town. Some people try to make the best of it with John, while most do not.

In a chance meeting at the market, John runs into old classmate Murray (Francesco Piacentini-Smith), who invites him home for dinner. There, he meets Murray’s mother, Dotty (Maxine Peake), a mental health nurse. Dotty sees what’s really going on with John and insists that he stop apologizing for the offensive things he says, including his blunt reminders that Dotty’s cancer will kill her. When medication and treatments fail, Dotty takes John into her home and begins various therapies to integrate him into society. After calling a girl the B-word at a nightclub with Murray, Dotty helps John get work at a community center alongside caretaker Tommy Trotter (Peter Mullan), who treats John’s outbursts like background noise. But then the outside world forces John into a criminal trial, where even taking the oath becomes its own battle.