Following its premiere in competition at the 2025 St Kilda Film Festival, the short film ALLEGEDLY has launched for public streaming. Written, directed by, and featuring Laura Brogan Browne, the film examines the mechanics of grooming and power imbalances within teacher-student relationships.
Based on true events from Brogan Browne’s life, the narrative follows Clover (Bailey Spalding), a high school graduate whose perspective on a former mentor shifts after she participates in an anonymous survey. The 16-minute film tracks Clover’s realisation that a relationship she once viewed as supportive was part of a broader predatory pattern involving multiple young women.
"My mission was to explore grooming in all its complexity and challenge the stereotypes that often silence victims," says Laura Brogan Browne. "Grace Tame often speaks of the 'community-wide failure' to understand what grooming actually looks like. With this film, we wanted to shift those harmful perceptions and reinforce the message that survivors are seen, heard, and validated."
“Laura is a powerful emerging filmmaker who is fearless in her mission to challenge and broaden our perspectives,” says producer Monique Placko. “We’re proud to be making her story accessible to a global audience - not to sensationalise it, but to let it do what truthful stories do best: shift the conversation.”
ALLEGEDLY is available to view online:
