Rising star, Tegan Grace Muggeridge leads the drama short film, A Girl Called Alice which speaks on London’s mobile phone theft epidemic. Writer, director, and producer, Tristan Loraine sees his latest film premiere at the 34th Raindance Film Festival under the ‘Narrative Short’ category (with Muggeridge co-writing). Even a cameo from Raindance Film Festival founder, Elliot Grove sees him fall victim to phone theft.
The film has big backers too. Both EE and Crimestoppers are part of this project to help raise awareness on this rising epidemic. Along with these partnering charities are technical support from Canon and DJI. Released under Loraine’s production company, Fact Not Fiction Films, A Girl Called Alice certainly has an important message which serves as a wake-up call in our world today. This short is the first to proudly feature The Human Made Mark which signifies the project has been made without AI input.
A Girl Called Alice: A Call to Action
Muggeridge plays Alice, a young woman who is known as ‘one of the most gifted phone thieves.’ But her game is challenged by a ferociously competitive and dangerous street gang leader, Tariq (Antonio Aakeel) who plans to find out just how good she is at her twisted job. But hot on their trail are detectives – played by Rita Ramnani and Flinn Andreae. They are equally as determined to target and track down these relentless phone thieves. Agile, capable, and energetic, Alice is unstoppable. Muggeridge plays her with a jovial charm and fierce female independence.
Shot in stunning locations across London – from Piccadilly Circus to Trafalgar Square showcases a great British film. There’s also a very clever and perfectly timed twist to up-end everything the audience thought they knew about this story. Throughout this 15-minute short crime drama, it’s extremely well-shot fast-paced sequences and buzzing storyline makes it feel as if you can’t possibly guess what will happen next. It places the audience directly into the action. We’re involved like an uncredited character ourselves.
Fast Fuelled &Tensional Chases
The well-matched tensional music keeps its audience constantly on edge. Loraine’s direction leads with fast fuelling tracking shots for chase scenes. And utilises dimly lit alleyways, echoey tunnels, and shadowy doorways to somewhat understand and place its audience into the dark underworld of phone thieves. The film immerses us into the crime to see what it’s like to live this lifestyle.
Its grounded storyline by co-writers Loraine and Muggeridge makes the film feel more ‘fact than fiction.’ Just like the title of Loraine’s production company. It’s highly relevant to our British culture of today. Which makes its story an immediate call to action. There’s hope that such a powerful short film will build awareness surrounding our own culture. Especially with how we attempt to prevent phone thieves by keeping ourselves safe.
The film certainly achieves what Loraine and Muggeridge set out to accomplish – to play its part in educating people in the subject and reducing the shocking statistic that over 120,000 mobile phones were stolen in 2025. Of course, this short will also raise awareness across international borders too. It reaches a global audience with its message. But set in the heart of London, this film is a message for this capital.
However, A Girl Called Alice also holds a sad inevitability behind its story. As much as we can manage our own actions with our phones whilst out in London, there’s little to solve the wider issue at hand. The question remains if these shocking statistics will change? Only time and further awareness will tell.
Rating: 4 ½ stars
A Girl Called Alice is part of Filmotomy’s coverage on Raindance Film Festival 2026.