In 1983, 12-year-old John Davidson lives in the town of Galashiels with his working class family where he delivers newspapers and enjoys fishing. With aspirations to become a football player, John begins his high school term at Galashiels Academy. After hearing that a scout will assess his skills as a goalie, John begins experiencing episodes of tics and uncontrollable echolalia. The head teacher responds to this by whipping John's hand with a belt. This injury and his tics mean he performs poorly at football, much to the disappointment of his father. John is banished from the dining table by his mother after spitting and soon after the children are told that their father has left. John walks into the river and wakes up in hospital.
Thirteen years later, John is still living with his mother, Heather, and is diagnosed with Tourette's syndrome. There is no known cure and John is medicated, but his tics remains an embarrassment to Heather. Murray, a friend of John's from school, has returned to town from Australia because his mother has liver cancer. Murray invites John to his home for a meal, which John does his best to avoid. Dotty, Murray's mother and a mental health nurse, senses John's discomfort and asks him about his medication. She informs the family that she wants John to stay with them.
John is weaned off his medication and told by Dotty to never apologise for his tics when around people who know his behaviour is uncontrollable. Murray brings John to a nightclub where he dances and chats up a woman, but in a ticcing episode he slings a drink out of another man's hand. This causes a brawl, John is jailed and Dotty says that he will be tried on assault charges.
Dotty asks if John would like a job at the local community centre as the caretaker's assistant. The caretaker, Tommy, shows John around and does not react to any of his outbursts, until John smacks Tommy's dog. John excuses himself, assuming that he has ruined his chances. Murray's family surprise John at home, saying that not only has he earned the job but that the hospital has told Dotty that the growth on her liver is benign. John is sent to collect a takeaway but is attacked by men at the behest of a woman who took offence when John called her a 'slut' in an outburst. Once again we see John in hospital, this time with Dotty at his side, who assures him that the job will be waiting for him once he recovers.
John settles into helping Tommy the caretaker, who shares his view that it's not the Tourette's which causes problems, but rather other people's lack of awareness about it. Dotty suggests that John is ready to live on his own. His behaviour attracts the attention of youths who take advantage of his situation by having a party in his flat, where a drug dealer approaches John. We later see John accept a package from a cyclist, but while walking through the shopping precinct John attracts the attention of police who arrest him. The package is in fact a bag of sugar used by the drug dealer to test John. Dotty accepts that John living on the council estate is not a good idea. She has been reading about Tourette's and suggests he does the same.
John's trial date arrives, but he is unable to finish the oath without cursing at the judge, who removes him from the stand. Tommy as character witness makes the point that if a blind man had spilt the drink at the club then matters would not have escalated. The case is dismissed.
John goes to visit Tommy at home and finds Tommy's body on the floor. John assumes that he will have to leave his job, but he is told that he has been promoted. The local hospital refers patients to meet with John so they can meet someone else with Tourette's. John hosts workshops at the community centre, then later visits schools and police to raise awareness. This leads to him being invited to Holyrood Palace to accept an MBE from the Queen. After receiving the award, John visits his mother to show it to her and explain why he had not invited her to attend. His mother apologises for being short-tempered with him in his youth.
John is invited by researchers at Nottingham University to test a treatment device. He finds that it calms his tics, to the point that he remains quiet throughout a visit to the university's library. On the train home he strikes up a conversation with a woman, demonstrating his growing confidence.
The film ends with footage of the real John Davidson, who was the subject of several BBC documentaries, starting with John's Not Mad.
I Swear was released in the United Kingdom on 10 October 2025.[8]
In October 2025, Sony Pictures Classics acquired distribution rights to the film in the United States, Latin America, Turkey, Portugal, Southeast Asia, South Korea and most of Eastern Europe.[9]
At its premiere in September 2025, I Swear earned positive reviews for its humane tone and standout performance. Variety praised Aramayo's turn as "flawless" and described the film's balance of earnestness and subtle humour.[11]The Guardian called it "funny, fierce and full of heart," noting how the film avoids sentimentality in portraying Tourette's.[12] In the Financial Times, the review observed that the film "is both serious and larky," commending its tonal restraint.[13] On the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rare 100% rating, with all 29 critics (as at 17 October 2025) awarding it a 'fresh' rating.[14]
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