An honest review on ‘I Swear’ (2025).
As a guy who highly suspects he has a tic disorder, I was so excited to watched this film about Tourette’s. From what I had heard of the film I went in anticipating an amazing film.
I was not wrong, ‘I swear’ has to be one of the best representations of Tourette’s syndrome I have seen in media to this day.
One of my only issues with the film is the choice of actor, I feel the choice of Robert Aramayo was not a particularly great choice. While Robert himself was amazing, I think this film would have been a great opportunity for actors who genuinely live with Tourette’s Syndrome or another tic disorder. While I understand that hiring an actor with Tourette’s may have made filming unpredictable and uncomfortable but that is the reality of living with tics.
As demonstrated in the movie tics are uncomfortable, embarrassing and hinder everyday life (this is why I personally feel the term disability accurately reflects my experience). Like shown in the film, individuals with tic disorders often struggle fitting into society, with many people with tic disorders settling for low payed jobs or even unemployment. This film could have helped change that.
Addressing the controversy regarding the BAFTA’s:
Important note, I am white British, in no way am I a person of colour and I do not intend to speak for people of colour.
The racial slur used should NEVER be used in everyday life, however, according to the NHS, ‘Tourette syndrome is a condition that causes you to make sudden, repetitive sounds or movements (tics).’ Tics cannot be controlled, they can be managed via suppression however suppressing tics is not always possible and often causes stress, discomfort and even pain for those that can suppress tics. John Davidson (the activist who inspired the film) cannot control what he says or does, because I repeat tics are involuntary. John did not intend to cause harm, distress or discomfort or offence when his tics caused him to use the racial slur. His ‘use’ of the word was simply a symptoms of his tic disorder, namely coprolalia, found in 10%-30% of individuals with Tourette’s. He could not control what was said. I believe his early exit during the ceremony was likely the option John felt was most appropriate following his ‘controversial’ tic. I personally cannot say whether his decision to leave early was entirely voluntary, I have no idea whether he was influenced by others. I do not believe it would be fair if John was asked to leave, he had every right to be there. He did not mean harm and if he apologised like a believe he did I do not see the issue. Why should the BBC have filtered a symptom of someone’s medical condition? Because the symptom made others uncomfortable? Well tics and Tourette’s makes those living with these conditions uncomfortable every single day.
Personal anecdote:
I have an assistance dog, he is multipurpose and one of his tasks in medical alert, which means that he sometimes jumps up and/or barks to alert to an incoming medical episode. Like many people I experience public access issues on a daily basis due to my need for a medical aid (my assistance dog). As someone with tics I feel the situation at the BAFTA’s felt similar to some experiences I have had when in public places with my working dog. I have been sat down at a restaurant with my dog when he suddenly jumped up at the table and barked at me. This triggered the staff and other customers to immediately turn to me and the staff then challenged me saying my dog was making others uncomfortable due to his barking (this made them ask me to leave their property). His barking, that was to alert me to an incoming medical episode which by this point I was already experiencing. While I apologised, I felt extremely upset by this incident, my dog was entirely in control of my dog, he was responding to a medical event that was out of my control. Why should I leave to make others more comfortable when I experience discomfort due to my disabilities every single day?
Acknowledgments:
I have a tic disorder and while I am part of the disabled community I do not speak for everyone. This is only my experience.
I understand (and believe) Robert himself did research on Tourette’s Syndrome before filming for the film, I feel this was most appropriate and honestly hands down to him, the acting in the film was amazing and I love that he took the approach of educating himself and emphasising John’s personality and life as person instead of portraying him in a way that made Tourette’s define John as a person.
I also appreciate that many people with Tourette’s and other tic disorders do not like the term disability being used to describe tic disorders, however, personally I feel the term disability accurately reflects my experience of living with a tic disorder. Under the Equality Act 2010, in the UK you are classed as being disabled if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial or long term negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities, this is why I, personally, view my tic disorder has a disability as it does negatively affect my ability to do normal daily activities like read and cook.
Please note, I have various disabilities excluding a tic disorder meaning my view on my experience with tics may be different to others.
I’m happy to discuss the points I’ve made in this post however, please remain respectful and understand I am autistic and this affects the way I perceive and respond to certain things.
