Alternate Best Actor 2025: Robert Aramayo in I Swear

Robert Aramayo did not receive an Oscar nomination, despite being nominated for BAFTA, for portraying John Davidson in I Swear.

I Swear follows the true story of a man dealing with his Tourette's syndrome. 

Robert Aramayo’s performance is one where a very specific technical element must be realized essentially perfectly not just for his performance to work but for the film to work. Because if we did not believe John Davidson’s condition on any level the whole film would not only be a failure would be an embarrassing failure. Thankfully Aramayo’s realization of the specific Tourette syndrome tics on John Davidson feels just absolutely authentic throughout the film in creating the specific nature where you get the sense of it as this uncontrollable knee kick type of nerve response in every moment, whether it be the verbal random swearing or the physical sudden movements, as well more so the combination of both, where Aramayo portrays particularly effectively the way he shows the tic happen then the attempt to try to kind of control the tic and that battle of sorts of frustration. Aramayo’s performance just feels real and in a way that does make the film because if he didn’t the film wouldn’t work but he does. There’s not a moment where it feels like a put on and or acting importantly, it just feels like the condition of the man that he is playing and Aramayo makes it feel all so natural. It is absolutely amazing technical work because never for a moment does it feel like technical work, Aramayo just makes it seem like the actual tics he has, which is extremely impressive and a fundamental bit of mastery at the center of this work. 

Now if this was only just the depiction of the tics, as excellent as Aramayo’s work is there in that regard and as important as it is to the film and performance, I probably wouldn’t be writing about him if that was all he had to offer within the performance. Aramayo’s work goes beyond even the tics, though it is notable that within that himself, Aramayo is actually doing John Davidson’s specific Scottish accent while also doing the tics which is just another layer of remarkable. Aramayo’s work goes even further in the physicality of the performance which connects through the actual arc of the character, because as much as this is a very empathetic depiction of John’s life, this isn’t to say that John doesn’t go through his own changes. Rather what Aramayo is able to embody so well is the way we see the transformation of John through the empathy of others and really anyone recognizing that what John is doing is not for attention but a genuine condition he has to reckon with every day. As we first see chronologically with his mother (Shirley Henderson), who doesn’t at all understand the condition, where we Aramayo convey the arrested development with this innate shyness about him and in a way being led around by his mother and the tics as basically his whole life. When he speaks outside of the tics, it is with that of the intensely apologetic tone only amplified by his eyes of that of the beaten dog just seemingly telling the world sorry for his mere existence. 

We find the potential progression when a friend of his and his friend’s mother Dottie Achenbach (Maxine Peake) decides to take Robert in. Dottie works as a psyche nurse with actual insight into his condition and trying to build up his confidence by for example saying he needs to stop apologizing for his tics given he has no power over them. Aramayo is great in creating the minor bits of change in this relationship even just the way he looks and walks about. He doesn’t change him instantly but you see there being no confidence in John as he stops apologizing for every little thing he says. Aramayo creates naturally the sense of how much just one empathetic voice makes for the young man in just how earnestly he captures the joy of not having to constantly say sorry for just existing as himself. Aramayo particularly excels in creating a convincing chemistry with Peake just based on that sense of support and ease of being himself. An idea extended upon as John is given a job opportunity with a caretaker Tommy Trotter (Peter Mullan), who is taken aback a little by a few of John’s tics but ends up taking to him and caring for him. Aramayo's work again really works in creating the movement between that certain retiring hiding emotional state in every reaction, to becoming more open with the sense of appreciation, something we also get in the warmth between him and Mullan, which is wholly winning as well. Aramayo convincingly takes the small and big steps in his performance in showing John opening up in his physical movements, the way speaks and just his general approach as someone more willing and able to be himself. 

Unfortunately while John begins to understand his condition better through support of people giving him time to understand it does not prevent others from being mistaken including John accidentally getting into a bar fight and even getting viciously beaten by some men for accidentally insulting a woman. Aramayo’s very good in the setups for each because we see in a way how John is becoming more open even with his apologies now Aramayo delivers them so succinctly not as trying to cover the horror but just as a quick “please understand” each time. Regardless though John still gets beaten and Aramayo’s certainly moving in bringing the visceral intensity in those moments of showing just how harmed John is each time, but with the caveat of this quiet sense of optimism that never is lost in the man at this point even when dealing with the violence of others. Aramayo importantly just shows basically this resilient smile within even the beaten face of the man, creating a convincing and not cloying sense of the growing strength of John as a person. It’s important not all at once, as within the courtroom where he doesn't know if the judge even believes his condition, Aramayo finds the nuance of the conditional confidence but also that powerful sense of appreciation in every reaction when Trotter so passionately speaks at behalf. Creating such a convincing sense of friendship within the personal growth, and I especially love Aramayo’s quiet but truly impactful grief when he learns of Trotter’s death but also learns he’ll be taking on Trotter’s old position. 

Aramayo’s performance earns those gradual steps to the last act of the film where John takes really the next step beyond just believing in himself and going beyond to trying to be a beacon for others. Aramayo’s portrayal of John as he becomes an activist is excellent work because it is so naturally built upon him making those tiny strides to now convincingly be the man who opens about his struggles to others, others now being other people with Tourette’s syndrome. Aramayo’s great in the scene where he’s with a young woman with the condition where Aramayo’s brings a combination between openness of John’s own vulnerability of his struggles though now as someone with perspective combined with that sense of earnestness in his expression and his own projection of warmth as he provides a source of comfort that Dottie and Trotter had provided for him just in the intently way he listens to her own struggles. An idea only expanded upon as we see John organizing a day for lots of people with the condition to gather together, where Aramayo’s speech about everything gathered being the majority for once, carries with it such genuine pride and importantly we see the true confidence of someone now who doesn’t just have a better understanding of not judging himself but now is actively seeking to help others with the same type of journey he had. Aramayo delivering on very much traditional feel good narrative in a way that does work. One because he makes us believe John as a person right down to every tic, but even more so makes us believe every moment of his journey, far beyond the technical and into the deeply emotional.