Synopsis

Jali (10) is the son of a Betawi artist, and he hates ondel-ondel because he is afraid of being bullied by his schoolmates. When his father, PAK SURYA, holds a Lebaran Betawi open house at his Betawi studio, Jali has no choice but to attend, and panics when RIO, the troublemaker who bullies him most, suddenly turns up at the studio.

With no way out, Jali crawls into the belly of his father's ondel-ondel costume and hides inside the bamboo frame. But when a thief armed with a machete threatens his father, Jali can no longer stay still. From inside the dark bamboo frame he moves the ondel-ondel forward and starts a fight no one could have imagined: a bamboo giant against a machete-wielding villain. To Jali, the frame is like Iron Man's armour. With an unexpected manoeuvre the ondel-ondel charges, Jali uses its hard wooden hand to knock the machete from the thief's grip, and the thief falls and is caught by the neighbours.

A brief silence, then cheers. Pak Surya opens the ondel-ondel's head and Jali appears, breathless and pale. His schoolmates stare in disbelief. Jali is ready to hide his face in shame, but instead they run to him, not to mock him but to hail him as the hero who saved the village with his "traditional robot". Jali smiles a little. The tradition he had hated turns out to be a shield that can protect him and the people he loves.