STARRING: TEYANA TAYLOR, TARAJI P. HENSON, SHERRI SHEPHERD, ASHLEY VERSHER, AND ROCKMOND DUNBAR
DIRECTED BY: TERRY PERRY
RELEASE DATE: JUNE 6, 2025
How much can you take before you’re on your last straw? Today we’re talking about a movie that explores themes of class, trauma, and societal desperation. Tyler Perry’s psychological crime drama, which is featured on Netflix, delivers a raw examination of what happens when life pushes you to your breaking point. The story centers around Janiyah Wiltkinson (Taraji P. Henson), a struggling single mother whose desperate circumstances and relentless series of financial and personal disasters bombard her in one day. As the stress builds up, her actions spiral out of control and lead to a chaotic event that she has to navigate through.
The film was produced by Tyler Perry Studios and written, directed and produced by Perry. When released, Straw quickly gained a lot of traction, which helped secure its spot in Netflix’s Top 10 list during its opening week.
It was said that Perry was inspired to write Straw by the financial hardships and emotional struggles he witnessed amongst single mothers while growing up although the film itself is not based on a true story. It received a mixed critical response, earning a 55% score on Rotten Tomatoes and 56/100 on Metaric.
In my opinion, Janiyah had so much going on that there was no wonder she hit her breaking point. She lost her job, her car was taken, she got threatened by a police officer, she didn’t get financially compensated, was evicted with all of her possessions placed outside in the rain, and her child got taken. This is enough to make anyone have a mental breakdown.
The film is a testament to the numerous people who have days such as this and shows when life knocks you down you must get back up swinging. The supporting cast played an integral role which helped the film to further illustrate its point about perseverance and survival. Henson had yet another fantastic performance carrying the film while a complete acting surprise to me was Teyana Taylor’s (Detective Kay Raymond) gritty performance. Straw is emotionally charged from beginning to end and Perry’s audience will not be disappointed.