Filmzuckerl – Cursed Normal Wednesday, September 23, 8:30 PM (OmU) Thursday, September 24, 6:00 PM (OmU) A Filmzuckerl screening at Filmbühne Waidhofen. Kirk Jones | GB 2025 | 121 min | OmU With: Robert Aramayo, Maxine Peake, Peter Mullan, Shirley Henderson, Scott Ellis Watson Few would have expected the Queen to award an uncontrollable "problem child" the Order of the British Empire – least of all John Davidson himself. In the early 1980s, John grows up in a small Scottish town. At twelve, he begins suffering from severe nervous tics. What is only diagnosed years later as Tourette syndrome turns his life into an ordeal: he's bullied and punished at school, and his behaviour meets incomprehension at home. In his mid-twenties, John (Robert Aramayo) still lives with his mother (Shirley Henderson). The side effects of his heavy medication have drained him of nearly all will to live. Only an encounter with his former schoolmate Murray and his mother Dottie (Maxine Peake) brings a turning point. Dottie accepts John as he is, takes him into her family, and gets him a job as assistant to Tommy (Peter Mullan), the community centre janitor. An absurd job interview develops into a deep friendship – and John gradually finds the courage to lead a self-determined life. CURSED NORMAL is based on the true story of Scot John Davidson and tells, with zest for life, fine wit, and great warmth, about living with Tourette syndrome and the longing to be accepted and seen for who you are. Davidson became one
