Before watching Straw, the title gives very little away, until you venture into the first 20 seconds of a quotidian, color-drained montage of dirty dishes and cluttered tables, ending with a woman waking up to the weight of everything on her shoulders. We’re clearly about to see someone’s “last straw,” or perhaps, one that “breaks the camel’s back.” Written and directed by Tyler Perry, Straw persists with his trademark melodramatic tone, but this installment in his oeuvre stands out with its gut-wrenching relevance. The film takes big swings and manages to hit its mark quite a few times, especially with Taraji P. Henson surging the action and emotion forward in overwhelming tidal waves as the lead. Even with its scattered flaws, the dramatic thriller is loud enough in its emotion that even the most heartless of folks will grow a heart — only to watch it get crushed.
What Is Tyler Perry’s ‘Straw’ About?

Janiyah (Henson) is a single Black mother struggling to make ends meet to take care of her daughter, who has an array of medical conditions, including seizures. Life is difficult for Janiyah, but even so, she strives to treat everyone kindly, even giving her last coins to her neighbor to help. But today, life was not going to pull any punches. Her merciless boss fires her; she is unable to withdraw money from the bank to pay for her daughter’s lunch; Child Services deems her an unfit parent and forcefully takes her daughter away; a white police officer hits her car, threatens her for scratching his, slaps her with a ticket and tows her car away; she is evicted from her apartment, leaving all her belongings in the rain; and to top it all off, she returns to her boss to get her last check only to be caught up in a fatal armed robbery. Bad day doesn’t begin to cover it. Surviving the robbery and understandably at the precipice of her mental health, she takes the bloody check she was owed and tries to cash it in at the bank. When it doesn’t work, she reveals the gun she took from the robber and suddenly finds herself at the helm of a desperate and unintended hostage situation. Soon after, blue and red lights surround the building, with Detective Raymond (Teyana Taylor) leading the negotiations as the only person who firmly believes Janiyah is the victim, not the perpetrator, of the armed robbery and the hostage situation. Raymond isn’t the only person sympathetic to Janiyah’s cause, with bank teller Nicole (Sherri Shepherd) connecting with her inside the building, as the three try to resolve everything peacefully, with emotions running higher than ever.
Taraji P. Henson Leads ‘Straw’ With a Devastating Performance

Straw absolutely does not shy away from visceral emotions, ensuring each narrative beat is accompanied by a threat to make us teary-eyed or provoked. Though it picks up slowly while painting a portrait of Janiyah’s life, pulling in many elements that people struggling financially are bound to recognize, the film ramps up to a demanding pace, overwhelming us exactly the way it needs to. There are some disruptions to this momentum, like the territory-pissing competition between the local police and the FBI, but it usually sticks with more of the relevant and hard-hitting beats of the writing. That being said, sometimes the emotions can go a tad bit overboard, taking us out of the moment with hyper-melodramatic scenes of Janiyah kneeling in the rain and screaming hell up to the camera, and perhaps it ratcheted up histrionics too quickly, but these errors are long forgotten in light of Henson’s performance. Sustaining such vivid and heart-pounding distress for the majority of the film’s runtime, Henson’s endurance deserves recognition. The script and her delivery of Janiyah’s climactic monologue perfectly encapsulate the unacknowledged, unseen, and unheard human who is desperately trying their best despite life pushing viciously back. We scream in frustration, are disoriented by panic and bawl hopelessly right alongside Henson. Next to Henson is her compassionate bank teller counterpart, Shepherd, with a soothing tone and gentle eyes that give both Janiyah and us the hope we need. Similarly, Taylor’s performance as Raymond serves as another point of contrast, and with their relationship being mainly over the phone, Taylor’s vocal work carries gravity and openness. Straw is definitely Janiyah’s story, and Henson’s two supporting cast members recognize this, never really stealing the spotlight and instead complementing Henson’s performance to keep Janiyah’s voice at the forefront.
‘Straw’ Tries To Do Too Much, but Still Packs a Punch

Image via Perry Well Films

There is no doubt that Straw is crowded, with the writing trying to pack in an extreme variety of ideas that are usually on-the-nose and sometimes disruptive. As mentioned before, many of the FBI scenes felt unnecessary. Even the wide array of Janiyah’s grievances throughout the day makes the first act feel overcrowded, but it’s one of those films that is charged with so much emotion, it’s easy to overlook the underlying clutter and instability. Even the obtuse themes feel justified when they are paired with memorable gems in the script, like “people don’t know how expensive it is to be poor.” Ironically enough, it is the combination of the kitchen sink effect and heavy-handed simplicity that paves the way to Straw’s ability to hit all the right punch-in-the-gut notes. It’s worth noting that Straw’s ending may be questionable for some, as it turns in on itself in a quick sequence of flashing what-ifs while touting perhaps an over-ambitious plot twist that may undercut some of the film’s previous work. But after being forced to sit at such a high level of intensity for an hour, it is most definitely earned. As such, despite the movie’s obvious excesses, it is easy to find credible hyperbole for Janiyah’s perpetually drawing-the-short-straw lifestyle, where Henson’s performance and chemistry with the cast drive forward the socially relevant heart of the film. Straw is now available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.

STRAW

‘Straw’ is a powerful gut-punch of a film that uses emotions to hide its clutter.

Release Date

June 6, 2025

Runtime

105 minutes

Pros & Cons

Henson’s pressure cooker performance consistently demands out attention.
‘Straw’ stays relevant with its ideas, increasing how provocative it is.
The high intensity of the film’s emotions tend to eclipse its flaws, which is actually satisfying.

Excessive ideas disrupt the pacing and immersive quality of the film.
The emotional scenes sometimes reach to a level of melodrama.
Some viewers may find the ending far-fetched and convoluted.