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Movies that feel like Merantau (2009)

If you loved Merantau, the closest films we have are San Andreas (2015), Haywire (2011) and Captain Phillips (2013). All three share Merantau's kinetic and contemplative feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 10 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on YouTube TV, TNT and TBS and others, checked against today's data.

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.

6.7 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Gareth Evanskineticcontemplativetense

When is Merantau streaming? →

If Merantau hit the spot, these will too

San Andreas poster
San Andreas
2015 · dir. Brad Peyton
🍅 48%6.1action · drama · thriller

Kinetic where it counts, contemplative underneath

In the aftermath of a massive earthquake in California, a rescue-chopper pilot makes a dangerous journey across the state in order to rescue his estranged daughter.

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Haywire poster
Haywire
2011 · dir. Steven Soderbergh
🍅 80%5.8action · thriller · drama

Action built on tension, twice over

A black ops soldier seeks payback after she is betrayed and left for dead.

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Captain Phillips poster
Captain Phillips
2013 · dir. Paul Greengrass
🍅 93%7.8action · drama · thriller

Kinetic drama, and it commits to that

The true story of Captain Richard Phillips and the 2009 hijacking by Somali pirates of the US-flagged MV Maersk Alabama, the first American cargo ship to be hijacked in two hundred years.

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Bloodsport poster
Bloodsport
1988 · dir. Newt Arnold
🍅 48%6.8action · thriller · drama

Martial arts is the engine of both

The difference: A 1980s film, from a different era of filmmaking

An American Army Major goes AWOL to Hong Kong for an outlawed martial arts contest called the Kumite.

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Kickboxer poster
Kickboxer
1989 · dir. Mark DiSalle
🍅 36%6.4action · thriller · drama

Both built around martial arts

If your enemy refuses to be humbled... Destroy him. Accompanied by his brother Kurt, American kickboxing champion Eric Sloane, arrives in Thailand to defeat the Eastern warriors at their own sport. His opponent: ruthless fighter and Thai champion, Tong Po. Tong not only defeats Eric, he paralyzes him for life. Crazed with anger, Kurt vows revenge.

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The Fugitive poster
The Fugitive
1993 · dir. Andrew Davis
🍅 96%7.8action · thriller · drama

Thriller with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

Wrongfully convicted of murdering his wife and sentenced to death, Richard Kimble escapes from the law in an attempt to find the real killer and clear his name.

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First Blood poster
First Blood
1982 · dir. Ted Kotcheff
🍅 86%7.7action · thriller · drama

Both trade on tension more than on being action

When former Green Beret John Rambo is harassed by local law enforcement and arrested for vagrancy, he is forced to flee into the mountains and wage an escalating one-man war against his pursuers.

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Shooter poster
Shooter
2007 · dir. Antoine Fuqua
🍅 47%7.2drama · action · thriller

Kinetic drama in both cases

A top Marine sniper, Bob Lee Swagger, leaves the military after a mission goes horribly awry and disappears, living in seclusion. He is coaxed back into service after a high-profile government official convinces him to help thwart a plot to kill the President of the United States. Ultimately double-crossed and framed for the attempt, Swagger becomes the target of a nationwide manhunt. He goes on the run to track the real killer and find out who exactly set him up, and why, eventually seeking revenge against some of the most powerful and corrupt leaders in the free world.

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White House Down poster
White House Down
2013 · dir. Roland Emmerich
🍅 52%6.3action · drama · thriller

Contemplative thriller, and it commits to that

Capitol Policeman John Cale has just been denied his dream job with the Secret Service protecting President James Sawyer. Not wanting to let down his little girl with the news, he takes her on a tour of the White House, when the complex is overtaken by a heavily armed paramilitary group. Now, with the nation's government falling into chaos and time running out, it's up to Cale to save the president, his daughter, and the country.

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The Bourne Supremacy poster
The Bourne Supremacy
2004 · dir. Paul Greengrass
🍅 81%7.7action · drama · thriller

Both trade on tension more than on being action

A CIA operation to purchase classified Russian documents is blown by a rival agent, who then shows up in the sleepy seaside village where Bourne and Marie have been living. The pair run for their lives and Bourne, who promised retaliation should anyone from his former life attempt contact, is forced to once again take up his life as a trained assassin to survive.

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Man on Fire poster
Man on Fire
2004 · dir. Tony Scott
🍅 39%7.7action · drama · thriller

Both are action through and through

Jaded ex-CIA operative John Creasy reluctantly accepts a job as the bodyguard for a 10-year-old girl in Mexico City. They clash at first, but eventually bond, and when she's kidnapped he's consumed by fury and will stop at nothing to save her life.

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Enemy of the State poster
Enemy of the State
1998 · dir. Tony Scott
🍅 71%7.3action · drama · thriller

The same drama instincts

When the videotape of the murder of a congressman unknowingly ends up in the hands of labor lawyer and dedicated family man Robert Clayton Dean, he is framed for the murder. With the help of the mysterious Brill, Dean attempts to throw the NSA off his trail and prove his innocence.

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In the mood for more kinetic?

all kinetic movies →

The best-reviewed films that share Merantau's defining feeling.