Following the release of I Swear last month, a film depicting the life of Tourette’s activist John Davidson and his experience being diagnosed with tics at a young age in a time where Tourette’s Syndrome was very much unheard of, we asked researchers and people with lived experience for their opinions on the film.
Prior to the movie’s release in cinemas, our colleagues Professor Maddie Groom and Dr Camilla Babbage were invited to the premiere held in London. It's an incredible achievement for Maddie and Camilla to be recognised for their contribution to Tourette's research with an invitation to biopic about the lived experience of someone living with tics.
Camilla reflected on her experience attending the premiere, saying “going to the premiere with Maddie was such a special opportunity in my work-life to date. Being surrounded by members of the community who I have known since my PhD, and meetings others I have heard about, felt like the start of a powerful movement.”
The film explores John’s quest to live normally in 1980’s rural Scotland from a heartfelt and informative perspective, despite the world around him insisting on calling him different and misunderstanding his experience. Camilla continued “after so many instances of poorly portrayed experiences of living with tics in the public media, this film was a refreshingly honest and heartwarming example of the realities of tics and Tourette Syndrome, and I hope changes public perceptions whilst raising awareness of the need for better support from healthcare services.”
We asked some of our public contributors with lived experience of tics to also share their thoughts on the film. Together, their perspectives reveal how the film not only tells a powerful personal story but also plays an important role in raising public awareness, challenging stigma, and deepening understanding of life with tics.
James
Prior to watching Kirk Jones’ “I Swear”, my first impression was, of course, based solely on the title. Its attention grabbing, for sure, and I understand this is necessary to get people to watch the film, but the title is disappointingly minimising of the breadth of Tourette’s to just coprolalia. This, along with the usual overly comical, disrespectful representation of Tourette’s in the media, gave me an initial apprehension towards the film. Fortunately, this first impression was completely incorrect. I could have forgiven the title simply because John Davidson does indeed have coprolalia, but this wasn’t even necessary with how much I ended up loving the film. It achieves an amazing balance of respectful (and truly funny) comedy, while, in my opinion, accurately showing the variety of difficulties of living with Tourette’s in a way that made me, as someone with tics, feel genuinely represented.
I thought that the various complications arising from having tics, such as bullying at school, social difficulties, getting a job, and the general complete lack of public understanding, to the difficulties for family and carers too, were very well portrayed. The self-hatred and pressure on yourself to be ‘normal’ when having tics was beautifully and tragically shown. It’s not all tragedy, though. The film builds up a great sense of hope and shows how much things have changed for the better, without undermining the difficulties.
The film was very sensitive toward the notion of acting, therefore faking, tics. In a Q&A, the director gave a very convincing justification for why the lead actor didn’t actually have tics, and that this was considered and attempted. In fact, John did a test shoot to act as himself for a 20-minute portion of the film - but the unpredictable nature of tics, and therefore not being able to ‘summon’ particular tics (required for some of the comedic scenes), made this impossible. Saying all this, the acted tics felt so real, and to me were indistinguishable from the real ones (a small portion of the cast, and many extras, do have Tourette’s and expressed their real tics in the film). All this made it easy to trust the good intentions of the director in making this film.
Going to the cinema was a real source of anxiety for me as a teenager with tics. I am lucky to now barely tic at all, but even so it was such a surreal and incredible experience to be watching this film with the sound of people openly expressing their tics all around the room, completely accepted and unchallenged – I’d have loved to experience this as a kid, and am glad others will now get that opportunity!
It’s a tough watch (I cried a lot!!), with a beautiful balance of tragedy, comedy, and hope. But I truly believe that this film could be a game changer for the public’s understanding and acceptance, and I’ve come away with a lovely renewed feeling of optimism for the future of living with Tourette’s. I’ll remember this evening fondly and am grateful to have been able to preview the film!
Eve
I left the cinema with a fierce conviction: everyone needs to see I Swear. I truly believe that if more people watched this film, they’d gain a deeper understanding of life with tics — and with that, a greater sense of empathy. That kind of empathy could genuinely reduce the kinds of problems shown at the beginning of the film
I was nervous that watching it might trigger my own tics (and it did — I even developed a new tic of saying “hey,” thanks to the film!). But I felt reassured knowing that even if people started the film with judgments, those would likely dissolve by the end — and I was right. Walking out of the cinema, I felt less afraid of ticcing in public. I kept thinking, what if the people passing me have seen the film?
I’ve always considered my tics to be part of my autism, and I never pursued a tic disorder diagnosis. At the time when my tics developed, it was lockdown and as a teenage girl beginning to consider I might be neurodiverse - I fit a stereotype. Social media was flooded with videos of girls with tics or Tourette’s, which helped raise awareness but also sparked accusations of faking. That tension made things harder for me. People at school had heard of tics, but I was often accused of pretending. With all that stigma, I didn’t even consider seeking a diagnosis through the NHS. Getting my autism diagnosis changed things. Slowly, the media and public have become more accepting of autism, and that shift has made it easier for me to be myself. I believe this combination — the reassurance of diagnosis and the easing of social tension through awareness — is essential for the wellbeing of neurodiverse people.
This film is massively contributing to the awareness half of this progress, but the improvement in the care pathways is essential too. With a diagnosis, it becomes easier to feel part of a community, and this allows you to feel the growing sense of acceptance and care from the general public towards the community.
Sarah
I thought the film was excellent and I was fully immersed in the story all the way through. It had just the right amount of humour. John’s story was so well told with respect and thoughtfully. Acceptance and understanding being a strong message throughout. I loved seeing the University of Nottingham in the film to show there are people who understand and care, and they are working hard to develop tools for TS sufferers. I think that anyone could see this film and relate to it. I also really enjoyed the clips at the end to show John in real life. And I definitely took something away from this film.
If you would like to find out more about some of the work Maddie and Camille are involved in visit the website below:
- National Steering Group for Tics & Tourette Syndrome
- ImproviNg Tic Services in EnglaND (INTEND) study
The film is still available to watch in cinemas, including ARC Cinema Beeston, Vue and Odeon.
Watch the trailer for the movie below: