In 1983, 12-year-old
John Davidson lives with his
working class family in
Galashiels in the
Scottish Borders. Aspiring to become a
football player, he begins
high school at
Galashiels Academy. John begins to inexplicably experience episodes of
tics and
uncontrollable swearing just before a scout is meant to assess his goalie skills. The head teacher responds by
whipping John's hand with a
belt. This injury and his tics result in a poor football performance for the scout, to his father's disappointment. John inadvertently starts a fight with another student after swearing at him during a tic episode, and the head teacher, believing John to be faking them for attention, curtly tells him to find a new school. John is banished from the dining table by his mother Heather and made to eat in front of the fireplace after spitting during dinner. His condition strains his parents' marriage, until Heather informs the children that their father has
abandoned the home. Distraught, John attempts suicide by walking into a river, but is rescued and wakes in hospital. In 1996 John, now 25, is still living with Heather and has been diagnosed with the incurable
Tourette syndrome. He is medicated with
haloperidol, but his tics and swearing oubursts remain an embarrassment. John's school friend Murray returns from Australia after his mother Dottie is diagnosed with
liver cancer. John turns down Murray's invitation to join the family for dinner, but Dottie, a mental health nurse, insists he come in and senses John's discomfort. Dottie asks about his medication, and the family agrees John should stay with them, much to Heather's despair. John is weaned off haloperidol and told by Dottie never to apologise for his tics when around people who understand his behaviour. Murray brings John to a nightclub; John is initially comfortable and engages with a woman but a ticcing episode starts a brawl with other patrons, after which John is remanded overnight and charged with assault. Dottie gets John a job interview at the local community centre. The aging caretaker, Tommy, shows John around and does not react to his tics until John unwittingly smacks Tommy's dog. John apologizes, assuming that he has ruined his chances to get the job. However, Murray's family surprise John at home; not only did he get the caretaker assistant's job but the growth on Dottie's liver is
benign, a
haemangioma. John goes to collect a
takeaway to celebrate, but is hospitalised by two thugs in the street after calling a woman a "slut" in an uncontrolled outburst. Dottie stays at his side and assures him the job will be waiting for him. John starts work with Tommy, who shares his view that Tourette's does not cause his problems, but rather a lack of awareness does. At his trial for assault, John is unable to finish the oath without swearing at the judge, who removes him from the stand. Tommy, as character witness, defends John's behaviour as uncontrollable, saying that if a blind man were to be in same situation, matters would not have escalated. The case is dismissed. Later on, John goes to Tommy's but finds him dead. After his funeral, John assumes that he will become unemployed, but instead is offered Tommy's job. A family from a local hospital is referred to John to meet their daughter, another person with Tourette's. John starts hosting Tourette's workshops at the community centre, and giving talks at schools and police stations to raise awareness. He is eventually named
MBE by
the Queen in 2019. After receiving the award at
Holyrood Palace, John shows the medal to his mother and explains why he did not invite her. She apologises for being short-tempered with him in his youth, and they tearfully reconcile. In 2023, John works with researchers at
University of Nottingham to test a treatment device: a non-invasive median nerve stimulation (MNS) device worn as a bracelet. The stimulation calms his tics sufficiently to allow him to remain quiet during an entire visit to the library. On the train home, he strikes up a conversation with a woman, demonstrating his growing confidence. The film ends with footage of the real John Davidson, the subject of several
BBC documentaries, starting with ''
John's Not Mad'', along with a postscript emphasising the importance of societal awareness in the management of Tourette's. == Cast ==