Straw Parent Guide

Single mother Janiyah (Taraji P. Henson) is struggling to make ends meet. Working two jobs, she can barely afford her daughter’s medicine, much less rent. One day Janiyah’s troubles come to a head as seemingly everything that could go wrong does. Convinced that if she can just cash her paycheck she’ll be able to get herself out of all her troubles, Janiyah goes to the bank where her frustrations come to a boil, escalating into an act of desperation that she never intended.

As a tense drama set in few locations, Straw lives or dies on its performances. Luckily, Tyler Perry put all his money on Taraji P. Henson, and she delivers. Henson’s performance is an acting masterclass. I doubt she’ll get the awards recognition she deserves because this is a direct to streaming film, but she should win an Oscar for this. Sherri Shepherd is also fantastic, holding her own against the powerhouse that is Henson. Does the rest of the movie deserve what these two actors are giving? Probably not.

I appreciate that Perry is trying to tackle some tough themes around poverty and social inequalities, and overall, I do think the film manages to drive home some powerful messages. But, as is his style, it’s also incredibly heavy handed and blunt. The third act is deeply flawed and undermines a lot of the good work done before that. If not for Henson’s performance this film could have come across as cheesy, but she grounds it enough to be taken seriously.

The subject matter probably won’t be interesting to young audiences, and the high amounts of swearing make it inappropriate anyway. I think Tyler Perry fans are sure to enjoy this film, and, based on what I’ve seen, I will admit that Straw is the best of his work. The themes and performances are fantastic, but the movie as a whole falls sadly short of its potential.