Bringemovies
← Browse Movies
Friction
TITLE DETAILS

Friction

2024-12-04 · 21 min · Not rated

Documentary

Caught between societal expectations and family obligations, a closeted trans woman in China faces a harrowing choice: risk social abandonment by embracing her true self, or endure the mental strain of remaining invisible to stay safe.

Open detail page

Trailers are previews, not full movies.

No authorized playback source configured. Use the legal watch options below.

Production details

Directors
Xiona Li
Production companies
Unavailable
Countries
United Kingdom, China
Status
Released

Top Cast

Cast unavailable.

Title information and images are supplied by TMDb. Explore our discovery guide for advice on comparing metadata and legal viewing options.

Where to watch

Availability provided by JustWatch via TMDb. Offers can change. Provider links are listed on TMDb; full playback requires a separately authorized source.

Availability not listed for this country.

Recommendations

Welcome to Chechnya
★ 7.0
Welcome to Chechnya2020Documentary

This searing investigative work shadows a group of activists risking unimaginable peril to confront the ongoing anti-LGBTQ program raging in the repressive and closed Russian republic. Unfettered access and a remarkable approach to protecting anonymity exposes this under-reported atrocity–and an extraordinary group of people confronting evil.

Come See Me in the Good Light
★ 7.1
Come See Me in the Good Light2025Documentary

In an intimate and joyful story of love in the face of loss, celebrated poets Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley find strength—and unexpected hilarity—in what might be their final year together.

My Mom Jayne
★ 7.9
My Mom Jayne2025Documentary

Through deeply personal interviews with her siblings and an examination of the photographs, letters, and belongings left behind, Mariska assembles a new portrait of her mother Jayne Mansfield, an extraordinary and complex woman.

To Kill a Tiger
★ 7.6
To Kill a Tiger2023Documentary

Ranjit, a farmer in India, takes on the fight of his life when he demands justice for his 13-year-old daughter, the victim of a brutal gang rape. His decision to support his daughter is virtually unheard of, and his journey unprecedented.

Disclosure
★ 7.8
Disclosure2020Documentary

An investigation of how Hollywood's fabled stories have deeply influenced how Americans feel about transgender people, and how transgender people have been taught to feel about themselves.

Elstree 1976
★ 6.2
Elstree 19762015Documentary

A documentary about ten very different lives connected by having appeared onscreen wearing masks or helmets in Star Wars.

The Mole: Undercover in North Korea
★ 7.1
The Mole: Undercover in North Korea2020Documentary

A real-life undercover thriller about two ordinary men who embark on an outrageously dangerous ten-year mission to penetrate the world's most secretive and brutal dictatorship: North Korea.

Avatar: The Deep Dive - A Special Edition of 20/20
★ 7.2
Avatar: The Deep Dive - A Special Edition of 20/202022Documentary

An inside look at one of the most anticipated movie sequels ever with James Cameron and cast.

We Live in Public
★ 6.8
We Live in Public2009Documentary

In 1999, Internet entrepreneur Josh Harris recruits dozens of young men and women who agree to live in underground apartments for weeks at a time while their every movement is broadcast online. Soon, Harris and his girlfriend embark on their own subterranean adventure, with cameras streaming live footage of their meals, arguments, bedroom activities, and bathroom habits. This documentary explores the role of technology in our lives, as it charts the fragile nature of dot-com economy.

Black Sheep
★ 7.2
Black Sheep2018Documentary

After the high-profile killing of Damilola Taylor, Cornelius' family move out of London. But when they discover their new town is run by racists, Cornelius takes a drastic step to survive.

I Am Heath Ledger
★ 7.4
I Am Heath Ledger2017Documentary

The life and career of an actor, artist, and icon. His own journey through his own camera.

Ex Libris: The New York Public Library
★ 6.4
Ex Libris: The New York Public Library2017Documentary

A documentary about how a dominant cultural and demographic institution both sustains their traditional activities and adapts to the digital revolution.

I Am Divine
★ 7.3
I Am Divine2014Documentary

Harris Glenn Milstead, aka Divine (1945-1988) was the ultimate outsider turned underground hero. Spitting in the face of the status quos of body image, gender identity, sexuality, and preconceived notions of beauty, Divine succeeded in becoming an internationally recognized icon, recording artist, and character actor of stage and screen. Glenn went from the often-mocked, schoolyard fat kid to underdog royalty, standing up for millions of gay men and women, drag queens and punk rockers, and countless other socially ostracized misfits and freaks. With a completely committed in-your-face style, he blurred the line between performer and personality, and revolutionized pop culture.

The Curse of the Dragon
★ 7.2
The Curse of the Dragon1993Documentary

A 1993 documentary film about Bruce Lee. The film includes interviews from some of his fellow students and opponents who worked alongside him in his movies.

Harmontown
★ 6.6
Harmontown2014Documentary

A comedic, brutally honest documentary following self-destructive TV writer Dan Harmon as he takes his live podcast on a national tour.

No Half Measures: Creating the Final Season of Breaking Bad
★ 8.5
No Half Measures: Creating the Final Season of Breaking Bad2013Documentary

A documentary about the making of season five of the acclaimed AMC series Breaking Bad.

Heart of a Dog
★ 6.5
Heart of a Dog2015Documentary

Musician and performance artist Laurie Anderson reflects on the deaths of her husband Lou Reed, her mother and her beloved dog.

A Toxic Love Story
★ 6.4
A Toxic Love Story2026Documentary

A string of threatening emails escalates into a revenge plot involving a newly married US marshal and his ex-girlfriend.

The Last Repair Shop
★ 7.5
The Last Repair Shop2024Documentary

In a warehouse in the heart of Los Angeles, a dwindling handful of devoted craftspeople maintain more than 80,000 student musical instruments, the largest remaining workshop in America of its kind. Meet four unforgettable characters whose broken-and-repaired lives have been dedicated to bringing so much more than music to the schoolchildren of this city.

Directed by John Ford
★ 7.0
Directed by John Ford1971Documentary

A documentary about the life and films of director John Ford.

Similar titles

Call Me Miles
Not rated
Call Me Miles2022Documentary

The brutal and often poignant story of a boy trapped in the body of a girl. It takes us on the journey of a typical Afrikaans child who faces self-hate, societal rejection, doubt and ultimately healing. A story about a transgender child fighting to find their place in the world.

I Am the Other One
Not rated
I Am the Other One2019Documentary

Luca longs for his lost love; Thalles for a name change; Raul to be a better person. They all share one element: they were born as women.

L'eletta
Not rated
L'eletta2006Documentary

The work deals with the election campaign of Vladimir Luxuria, the first transgender woman to sit in the Italian Parliament. She started off as an entertainer in gay nightclubs, found fame in television parlours and achieved consecration as a defender of LGBT rights by organising the first World Gay Pride in Rome in the Jubilee year. Luxuria entered parliament and with her emerged a social cross-section of an Italy that is changing in spite of prejudice. Thanks to her social battles around Italy, the voices of LGBT people gain visibility and social recognition

The Stroll
★ 6.5
The Stroll2023Documentary

The history of New York’s Meatpacking District, told from the perspective of transgender sex workers who lived and worked there. Filmmaker Kristen Lovell, who walked “The Stroll” for a decade, reunites her community to recount the violence, policing, homelessness, and gentrification they overcame to build a movement for transgender rights.

THIS IS WHAT TRANS PUNK LOOKS LIKE
★ 8.0
THIS IS WHAT TRANS PUNK LOOKS LIKE2024Documentary

"This Is What Trans Punk Looks Like" is a documentary about the transgender punk culture in Texas and the beauty of community. It features several interviews with trans individuals within the scene, talking about their childhood experiences, Texas' political climate, and what punk means to them.

I Don't Know
★ 4.4
I Don't Know1971Documentary

A truly major work, I Don’t Know observes the relationship between a lesbian and a transgender person who prefers to be identified somewhere in between male and female, in an expression of personal ambiguity suggested by the film’s title. This nonfiction film – an unusual, partly staged work of semi-verité – is the first of Spheeris’s films to fully embrace what would become her characteristic documentary style: probing, intimate, uncompromising. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2014.

[ÒDIO]
Not rated
[ÒDIO]2026Documentary

[ÒDIO] is a polyphonic work that resonates as a choral dramaturgy: a fabric of gazes and contrasting testimonies on the spread of violence, emerging from encounters with dozens of young people of various nationalities and backgrounds. A three-chapter documentary film that we shot by placing a lightweight blue photographic backdrop in schools, cultural spaces, and reception centers, starting from Rimini, then Rome (the Quarticciolo district) and Hamburg. [ÒDIO] is the final destination of our long theatrical research into the novel Frankenstein (or the Modern Prometheus).

Safe Space
Not rated
Safe Space2023Documentary

Following the lives of Queer creatives behind Norwich’s queer collaborative ‘Stripped Sets’. We discover the reasoning behind the need for safe spaces, and the stories that come with them. Through live events, photoshoots and history, we see the process in creating such an important event.

Our League
Not rated
Our League2022Documentary

A community of bowlers outside of Cleveland cope with fundamental change when new owners take over at a landmark alley and a longtime league member comes out as a trans woman.

Who I Am
Not rated
Who I Am2022Documentary

'Who I Am' follows a transgender teen who is also autistic. Research shows that people who are neurodivergent are more likely to be trans or gender diverse, but little is known about why. The story is told through observational moments, intimate reflections from the whole family, and Aether’s own original animated characters, The Fallens, coming to life.

The Boy Who Was Born a Girl
Not rated
The Boy Who Was Born a Girl2009Documentary

Jon is a typical teenage boy in all respects except one: he was born a girl. He has now been diagnosed with gender dysphoria, a condition that affects over 100 British children every year, and is embarking on an extraordinary journey of transition. Director Julia Moon follows mother and son through the first three months of Jon's life-changing treatment as the testosterone pushes his female body into male puberty.

I will always be your girl :P
Not rated
I will always be your girl :PDocumentary

I Will Always Be Your Girl :P is a video-art piece made of archival footage documenting a specific part of the artist’s transition: the six months between the beginning of the legal process to change name and gender in Italy and the day of the court appointment. More than an informative video about transition guidelines in Italy, I almost impulsively assembled fragments of footage I filmed during these months. On a line between doing my testosterone shot, sharing my thoughts and worries about the process, performing gender and car rides - it is within this space that I place the legal recognition of my own gender and name from the Italian state.

The Princess and the Peacock
Not rated
The Princess and the Peacock2024Documentary

Mona is a 22 year old trans girl from a small village in France. She puts needles attached to peacock feathers in her skin, under bright lights, late at night. She bleeds, half naked, in front of small crowds of people. Sometimes they faint whilst watching her. Why would she do this? How did she learn to do it? And why would someone want to watch?

Brianna: A Mother's Story
Not rated
Brianna: A Mother's Story2025Documentary

Brianna: A Mother's Story - Esther Ghey tells the powerful and emotional true story of her daughter Brianna, a sixteen year old trans girl who was groomed by a murder obsessed classmate.

We've Been Around
★ 9.0
We've Been Around2016Documentary

In this documentary, director Rhys Ernst tells the previously untold histories of transgender pioneers. Trans people have always been here, throughout time, often hidden in plain sight.

Castration Movie Documentary Anthology i. You Had To Be There
Not rated
Castration Movie Documentary Anthology i. You Had To Be There2026Documentary

Over the course of nearly two years, Louise Weard and her loved ones test the limits of filmmaking, friendship and sanity as they try to finish shooting her seven-hour epic: The Untitled Louise Weard Castration Movie.

Understanding Myself as an Amphibian
Not rated
Understanding Myself as an Amphibian2026Documentary

This queer ecology documentary explores the sexual diversity of the wildlife around us. Director May Matchim draws connections between these incredible species and her own journey accepting her Transness. The title is a reference to the green frog, an amphibian which is able to change its sex as it matures. This film includes a variety of animal and plant subjects, including same-sex bird parents raising chicks together, and a group of salamanders that's entirely female. It also examines the exclusionary attitudes in biology and conservation throughout time, and how these attitudes have influenced our understanding of animal behaviour.

The Rainbow Passage
Not rated
The Rainbow Passage2020Documentary

Following a year in Cadance and Amanda's gender transition, this intimate documentary charts not only their personal transformation but the building of a life and community together in regional New South Wales.

We Are Alive
Not rated
We Are Alive2025Documentary

A small fortune, a trans-queer punk band, a fleeting safe house of friends and lovers, and a freedom they had only ever dreamed of. But the voices of their murdered friends echo across the house. How does the band create music affirming love, life, joy, and anger? Can they put up a show in the memory of their fallen comrades, before time and money force them back into a disapproving world?

A Normal Daughter: The Life and Times of Kewpie of District Six
Not rated
A Normal Daughter: The Life and Times of Kewpie of District Six2000Documentary

Before South Africa’s apartheid government in the 1970’s destroyed District Six, being gay, or “moffie,” was an accepted part of this racially and religiously diverse community in Cape Town. Kewpie's hairdressing salon was the epicenter of this culture, a meeting place where the “girls” organized drag balls and cabaret performances, all of which are captured through her amazing collection of snapshots.

Your favorites

Recently viewed

Watch

Choose an authorized server.

Full video from an operator-configured authorized source. Official trailers use a separate player. If a server fails, retry or select another authorized server.

Legal watch options

Official trailer

Trailer preview only. Press Play to start.

Privacy choices

Favorites stay in your browser. Movie images load from TMDb. YouTube trailers contact YouTube only after you allow external media and choose a trailer. Advertising consent, if ads are enabled, is managed separately by the operator’s certified CMP.

Privacy policy

After allowing external media, choose the trailer button to load its player.