Straw is a 2025 American drama thriller film directed by Tyler Perry from a screenplay by Tyler Perry. The film premiered on the Netflix movie platform on June 6, 2025.
The film tells the story of a day in the life of a single mother – Janaya (Taraji P. Henson), whose 8-year-old daughter suffers from epilepsy. The loss of her job, eviction from her home, a beating by a stranger, and a confrontation with an impartial police officer push her to despair.
While trying to cash a check, she accidentally creates a bank robbery, and then begins a psychological conflict between reality and hallucinations. The final twist reveals that her daughter died the night before, and she lives in conscious shock all day.
Straw relies on restrained colors and a chamber atmosphere that gradually flows into chaos - emotional and visual. Compared to Dog Day Afternoon, the film uses intimate shots in tense situations – like a hostage in a bank wearing a knitted mask.
The film is a vivid and powerful social drama that uses the pure power of human tragedy – filled with emotional turbulence and deeply soulful moments. Sometimes clichéd, sometimes stylistically sharp, but always human. And this film brings a conclusion: sometimes the last straw is in the eyes of a mother who loses everything.
