So the good folks over at TwitchFilm have given the top post section of their site to Merantau for the entire weekend. It’s understandable, the weekends are slow – no one is searching the web from work, so you might as well throw as mammoth of a trailer at them as you possibly can. Merantau is that mammoth trailer, without question. From the looks of it your first guess would be that it’s apparently another bold Thai martial arts film made in the wake of Tony Jaa’s breakout roles in Ong Bak + The Protector; but no, Merantau is actually an Indonesian martial arts film. The first in an incredibly long time to boot and displays their cultural martial art: Silat. Boldly proclaimed as the next great breakout martial arts star, lead actor Iko Uwais has a lot to live up to, but from the looks of this trailer he’s doing a fine job of it! A lot of what has made Thai such a hotbed for awesome martial arts cinema appears to have went into the making of this film as well, very brutal and close contact choreography mixed with some lively stunts and photography. Twitch has the lowdown on the plot that apparently goes something like this:

“In Minangkabau, West Sumatera, Yuda a skilled practitioner of Silat Harimau is in the final preparations to begin his “Merantau” a century’s old rites-of-passage to be carried out by the community’s young men that will see him leave the comforts of his idyllic farming village and make a name for himself in the bustling city of Jakarta. After a series of setbacks leave Yuda homeless and uncertain about his new future, a chance encounter results in him defending the orphaned Astri from becoming the latest victim of a European human trafficking ring led by the wildly psychotic, Ratger and his right-hand man Luc. With Ratger injured in the melee and seeking both his “merchandise” and bloody retribution, Yuda’s introduction to the city is a baptism of fire as he is forced to go on the run with Astri and her younger brother Adit as all the pimps and gangsters that inhabit the night hound the streets chasing their every step. With escape seemingly beyond their grasp, Yuda has no choice but to face his attackers in an adrenaline charged, jaw-dropping finale.”

So here’s the trailer, check it out and see if it doesn’t cause your pants to dampen. However, watch it, it’s high resolution so give it a few minutes to load up.