Merantau

Merantau is a 2009 Indonesian martial arts film written and directed by Gareth Evans, and starring Iko Uwais.

It showcases a style of pencak silat known as Silek Harimau (Minang tiger silat) and a Minangkabau tradition known as merantau. Evans and Uwais later collaborated again for the Indonesian action film The Raid: Redemption (2011) and its sequel (2014).

The film was released on August 6, 2009. Merantau won the Jury Award for Best Film at the 2010 ActionFest.

The plot follows Yuda, a Minangkabau from West Sumatra and an expert in silat. As part of the merantau (journeying) tradition, he leaves his home to seek experience and success. He plans to teach silat to the children of Jakarta. On his bus journey, he meets Eric, a fellow exponent of the art. When he hears of Yuda's plan, Eric becomes sombre, and warns him that the city is quite different from what Yuda is used to, and also that it is difficult to make a living teaching the art. Yuda finds that the address where he was meant to stay has been torn down, so he becomes homeless. His wallet is stolen by a child named Adit. Chasing the thief, Yuda then encounters the thief's sister, Astri, quarrelling with her boss, Johnny. When Johnny begins abusing Astri, Yuda intervenes. Yuda saves Astri but instead of gratitude, he is rebuked because she had become jobless as a result. The next day, Yuda sees Astri once again being beaten by Johnny. He intervenes again only to be beaten at first by his thugs. He quickly recovers and saves Astri from Johnny, while saving her he brutally scars Johnny's boss, Ratger. Ratger's associate, Luc tries to calm down Ratger, but to no avail as Ratger decides to stay in the city to hunt down Astri and Yuda.

Yuda takes Astri and Adit to where he is staying in the city, a construction site. They talk, and Yuda explains why he came to the city and talks about his older brother, who used to always beat him up. Astri then explains how her parents abandoned her and Adit a few years ago, and how she has been taking care of them ever since. The next day, Yuda, Astri, and Adit decide to retrieve their savings from their home in an apartment complex. Yuda leaves Astri and Adit to retrieve the money, but he is caught in the act by several thugs sent to guard the building. Yuda starts fighting the henchmen while trying to reach Astri and Adit.