The problem is not Tourette's, the problem is that people don't know enough about Tourette's.

Continuing my trip up Empire's top 20 films of 2025

#9 :  I Swear

Easily the most heartwarming film to prominently feature the phrase “Spunk for milk” you’ll see this – or indeed any – other year. Kirk Jones’ I Swear tells the true story of Scotsman John Davidson and his experiences both growing up with and advocating for those living with Tourette’s syndrome – and for all the hardship he experiences, the film is, in a word, lovely. Robert Aramayo is on extraordinary form here as Davidson, managing not only to nail the physical and vocal characteristics of the real John, but also the emotional depths and impish humour of the man. It’s an inspired performance, perfectly befitting of a truly inspirational person and, ultimately, a truly inspirational film.

This is another one I've heard good things about (and it obviously got a bit of not such great publicity after the BAFTA awards) - I'm not sure if I'd have watched it or not. But here goes...

Ah yes, I can tell I definitely wouldn't have watched it because of the tension involved - we start with John as a normal teenager (played Scott Ellis Watson) living a normal live and we know that things are going to just go horribly wrong for the lad. And they do and it's fair to say his parents don't know how to deal with it, with his dad leaving and his mum (played by Shirley Henderson) refusing to understand it. 

At which point, we fast forward thirteen years with John now being played by Robert Aramayo but otherwise things haven't overly changed - until he meets Dottie Achenbach (played by Maxine Peake). The film then covers a large section of John's life and various events within it - and you probably don't need to know anything more than that here.

A film like this is going to live or die on the central performance and Robert (who was cast without an audition) has been widely praised for his work in this. It's doubly impressive because behind the obvious physical component of the tics and the swearing (there have been some complaints that the condition is exaggerated, but that's probably down to the writing rather than the performance), there is a more subtle portrayal of the man behind that and how it all affects him. You really feel that he's put the research in to understand both the condition and the man - it's a pleasure to watch.

Maxine has the other main role in the film and I'm not going to explain anything about it but she's great as you'd expect - has she even been bad in anything? Scott Ellis Watson plays the young John and he puts in a great performance - it's heartbreaking to watch him being unable to understand what's happening to him and being able to convince anyone he's not just playing the fool - Shirley Henderson is also (obviously) great as his mum, in a very unsympathetic role, It's also always nice to see Peter Mullan in something and he has a minor but important role in this representing the best of humanity in accepting John for who he is. I also have to say it's nice to hear Scottish accents - it's a bit of a shame the two main actors are English but their performances are so good (particularly Robert's) that you can understand why they went down that road.

The film has more visual flair and technique than the story required - it would have been easy for them to film it in a simple documentary-like style but there are lots of wide angle shots of the countryside and buildings. It could have seemed unnecessary but I think it actually worked quite well because it doesn't go over the top - I suspect people cleverer than me could relate it to John's dual nature, but we won't go there here. 

It's also well written - it has a reasonably straightforward tale to tell, but it tells it well with tenderness and more humour than you might expect. Yes, there's peril in there as well as John's condition gets him into "scrapes" (and I don't respond to such peril well) and I do think it seems a bit naive/convoluted at times - for example I'm pretty certain if I had a mate with Tourettes I wouldn't take him clubbing to celebrate him coming off his meds. I also probably don't need to warn you, but there's some fruity language in there, often quite amusingly so. 

So it's well written, acted and shot and I think the film does a good job in balancing the expected peril and related lows with some unexpected humanity and related highs - it's a minor rollercoaster of a film and it ends on a high note, with some footage of the real John Davidson over the final credits. Empire described this film as "lovely" and I really wasn't expecting to agree with them but I have to admit they're right - it also has a fantastic central performance from Robert and it's worth watching for that alone. So it's a strong recommendation from me - if you fancy it, then it's available to stream on Netflix or to rent in all the usual other places.

#10 - A surprisingly tender film