I Swear: A Simple Biopic Led By Empathy and Heart

Interest in the British comedy-drama I Swear skyrocketed following star actor Robert Aramayo’s surprise Best Actor victory over many established stars at this year’s BAFTA awards. That win inevitably led to curiosity among North American moviegoers as to how a virtually unknown actor on this side of the pond, and their performance, could beat out the other powerhouse performances from this past awards season. On the surface, I Swear is a biopic centered around John Davidson (Aramayo), a man diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome at a young age, causing motor and vocal tics (including the occasional utterance of inappropriate language). Despite being a fairly standard biopic, its performances and heart make it stand out, even if the level of filmmaking on display isn’t all that unique.

Prior to his tics, Davidson is portrayed a typical teenager whose life starts to change when his tics became increasingly prevalent. Suddenly, he can no longer play sports, disappointing his father David (Steven Cree), straining his parents’ marriage to the point where his father leaves them, and also has to deal with relentless bullying at school. Fast forward to years later, John is now diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome, as his mother Heather (Shirley Henderson) continues to struggle to understand her son. When he links up with a childhood friend to have dinner, he meets not only his whole family, including his mother Dottie Achenbach (Peake), a woman who understands Davidson and never ridicules him.

One could argue that Dottie is truly the heart of the film, as her treatment of Davidson as not only one of her own sons, despite his condition. She teaches him never to be ashamed of his tics and never asks him to repress them or apologize for them. None of this could have been possible without Peake’s wonderful performance, perfectly displaying her warmth and love for Davidson, though it helps that she has a stellar scene partner to act against. Aramayo is certainly deserving of every bit of praise for his performance as Davidson. It could be easy for an actor to overact in certain instances when portraying a character with Tourette’s syndrome, but he strikes the right balance, finding humor and warmth. It never feels like too much, or that Davidson is the butt of the joke, as Aramayo treats him with the humanity that he and his story deserves.

Being a biopic, it, for the most part, keeps to the genre’s familiar chords and conventions. Even for those unaware of Davidson’s story, they can certainly guess the film’s story beats and how the story will end. That being said, this is less a criticism of the story as a whole, and more of a desire for more biopics to take risks in terms of storytelling. It simply tries to cover too much. While it is understandable how biopics want to provide audiences a broad overview of their subjects’ lives, but the most successful biopics tend to focus on a specific period in a figure’s life. However, in the case of this film, this choice doesn’t take away from its heart or messaging, it’s just a wish for the genre as a whole.

I Swear doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel, rather, it is a simple story that aims to educate audiences. To that effect, it is hard watching Davidson get treated poorly early on in the film, purely because others do not understand his condition. The film teaches audiences to have empathy for what they do not understand, and encourages them to learn more. Davidson himself attempts to do the teaching, later educating a group of police officers about Tourette’s, and then arranges a meeting of a group of children with Tourette’s who get to meet others like them for likely the first time, giving them a place where they can be themselves and not be judged.

In the end, I Swear succeeds most in its simple albeit predictable story, encouraging audiences to have empathy for what they do not know. The screenplay is absolutely elevated by its performances from its stellar cast, all deserving of every bit of the praise they have received. The way they showcase the humanity and heart of these characters just brings the whole film together. The chemistry of Robert Aramayo and Maxine Peake is one of its biggest bright spots. While far from perfect, the film doesn’t have to be. The message audiences will take away about empathy and trying to understand each other’s differences is more than enough.

still courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

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Jasmine Graham