"I Swear" Is the Most Heartfelt Foul-Mouthed Movie

At the 2026 British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards, Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo walked onstage to present an award. While up there, a racist slur was shouted across the room. Being the professional gentlemen they were, the two pressed on as if nothing had happened, though it was clear they were shaken. Later, host Alan Cummings stepped on stage to apologize for some of the words heard with an explanation: one of their guests, John Davidson, was in the room with them, and had Tourette's syndrome. This meant he was susceptible to shouting out offensive words he did not mean. John was there because a film based on his life was up for some awards (and would even win a couple that night).

What followed was a heated online debate about whether or not John should have been at the show at all, whether people like him should stay indoors and DoorDash all their food, as well as the BAFTAs’ handling of the situation (to be sure, it was PROBABLY a bad idea to have him sitting next to one of the room’s many microphones). What wasn’t talked about much was the movie “I Swear,” which, had more people actually seen it, might have cleared a lot of things up earlier. Because while, in some ways, the movie is a predictable underdog story, it also lets us walk in the shoes of a man who has a condition that he can’t control, doesn’t want, and (contrary to what people believe) shouts things he doesn’t mean.

At one point, he is even arrested for his tics, unwittingly causing a stir, and John (played shockingly convincingly by Robert Aramayo, who actually won the BAFTA Award that night for Best Actor) is literally unable to grant the judge the respect that is being demanded of him. Outside of the courtroom, he shouts ‘slut’ (one of the lesser curse words heard in the film) to a woman as she walks by. He tries to apologize, but she will simply not hear it. Later on, her boyfriend finds him and beats him up with a crowbar for "disrespecting" his woman. Aside from these public spats, little things we take for granted are off limits to him; he can’t even go to a library because his tics will not allow him to stay quiet.

The situation is so stressful that as a kid, his father leaves the family, unable to handle him, and his mother puts up with him but stops seeing him as a son and more of a burden in the later years. This is not the kind of life that seems easy. While we cannot live in John’s shoes, watching “I Swear” is an eye-opening experience into just how easy we have it. We can choose what we say (unless we are drunk). We can walk down the street without doing odd things (like, say, kissing a lamppost or pouring hot water over our hands four times before pouring tea). John can’t do that. He is judged for a condition he cannot control, nor is it one that people understand. The fascinating thing about “I Swear” is that in most cases, this movie might have been really boring.

We are essentially watching a guy move out of his house, get a job, and even adopt a dog. These everyday things we take for granted are major accomplishments in his life, and we sympathize because the hurdles for him are that much greater. The script follows the pattern of a (well-made) Hallmark movie, and the direction is not exactly exceptional. I’m not even sure that the film is all that unpredictable despite the unpredictable nature of his condition. Still, much like when “CODA” captured the hearts of the world with the simple, relatable story of being a fish out of water within a family, John Davidson is a fish out of water for the world. Never able to conform but always needing to apologize.

When the real John Davidson shouted the racial slur, he left the room and watched the rest of the show in the dressing room. The world suggested that if he can’t control himself, he should lock himself in his house and never come out. Is that our solution: lock away the people we don’t understand who make us uncomfortable? Jordan and Lindo did not deserve to have what happened happen - no one should have to endure that kind of public indignity, regardless of the source. Still, if we are truly trying to understand people with Tourette’s and try to destigmatize mental illness, then this incident (and movie) shows that we unfortunately still have a long way to go.

P.S. To add insult to injury, John’s condition specifically - coprolalia (involuntary swearing) - only affects 10%-15% of people diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome, making him a minority of a minority. It seems the world could be a little more understanding still.