I Swear is a new film which thankfully avoids the awful 1994 dirge, popularised by All-4-One, which was difficult to avoid when it got to No.2 for SEVEN WEEKS!
Still, I managed to successfully dash to the radio to switch it off as soon as the slow toss began.
Anyhoo, as for the film, this starts in the near-present day, 2019, when John Davidson (here portrayed by Robert Aramayo – The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power) received an MBE from the Queen, his Tourettes causing him to blurt out the instruction to fornicate in her direction, before the story heads back to John as a young boy (Scott Ellis Watson) with a paper round.
That said, I Swear rather screws with reality because it begins in 1983 with John at the age of 12, hence New Order’s Blue Monday starts up. It states he’s starting senior school at that age, but that would happen at the age of 11. I was 11 in 1983, making me think he’s the same age as me, but since he’s a year older, the film is out by a year… But then, Wikipedia lists the character as being 15 at that time! When starting senior school? Are you high?!
Presumably, it’s not this treacle of years which leads to him developing Tourettes, as that’s something that just comes about.
Similarly, he takes a girl to see Tootsie at the cinema, much to her mum’s annoyance. I’ll leave you to discover how that turns out, but as for the film, it came out in 1982 in the US, and a bit later in the UK, in April 1983, but given how he’s starting a new school year, that would make this September 1983, and the film would not still be playing in cinemas at that point.
His school also apparently still gives pupils punishment with the strap across the hand. Thankfully, we never had that and I thought it had been outlawed in the ’70s.
But time soon moves on 13 years to 1996, when the adult John is on medication for his now-recognised condition, which helps him control his actions to a degree, although I couldn’t work out why he would voluntarily STOP taking the tablets, nor why he moved out from the family home – away from his Mum, Heather (Shirley Henderson – Elio 3D), and moved in with friend Murray (Francesco Piacentini-Smith), and *his* Mum, Dottie (Maxine Peake – Anne (ITV Hillsborough drama)), who has six months left to live, due to cancer, but wants to be able to make a difference in her time left.
There is, however, also some amusing scenes, such as when John gets a job as a janitor at the local youth club, assisting Tommy Trotter (Peter Mullan – After The Party):
- Tommy: “I’ll give you a tour of the place”
John: “Give me a COCK in my HAND!”
Tommy… looks flabbergasted
Overall, I Swear is good and have great performances from the cast, but at two hours, it goes on too long, even though it does a good job of showcasing the condition and how John has not only tried to deal with it, but also to help many others in the same position, such as by giving talks on the topic, and bringing sufferers of the condition together, so they don’t feel alone with it.
Plus, as it’s been shot in a straight-forward 1.85:1 aspect ratio, it comes across as a TV movie that would’ve premiered on BBC2 at 10pm on a Sunday evening. That doesn’t mean that only few people should see it, though, and there’s a lot of scenes that do elicit a strong reaction from a cinema audience, but it just doesn’t feel like a big screen experience.
Additionally, having seen this and looking the man up online, I’m reminded of the 1989 QED documentary, John’s Not Mad, which focused upon him and highlighted his condition to the nation, but which doesn’t seem to have been shown since.
Finally, there’s no ‘end credit scene’ as such, but as the credits play out, there is footage of the real John Davidson.
And spunk for milk!
I Swear is in cinemas now, and is available to pre-order on Blu-ray and DVD, ahead of its release date TBA.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 120 minutes
Release date: October 10th 2025
Studio: Studiocanal UK
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Cinema: Odeon Trafford Centre
Rating: 7/10
Director: Kirk Jones
Producers: Georgia Bayliff, Kirk Jones, Piers Tempest
Screenplay: Kirk Jones
Music: Stephen Rennicks
Cast:
John Davidson: Robert Aramayo
Tommy Trotter: Peter Mullan
Dottie Achenbach: Maxine Peake
Heather Davidson: Shirley Henderson
Young John Davidson: Scott Ellis Watson
Murray: Francesco Piacentini-Smith
Billy Dean: Paul Donnelly
Doctor Colin Hargreaves: Douglas Rankine
Inspector MacCullen: Adam McNamara
James: Chris Dixon
Chris Achenbach: David Carlyle
David Davidson: Steven Cree
Andy: Anthony Capaldi
Lucy: Andrea Bisset
Councillor Spalding: Gordon Peaston
Alison: Christina Modestou
Young Caroline: Isla Mercer
Young Murray: Jamie McAllister
Himself: John Davidson (archive footage)
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.