'Straw' Review: Taraji P. Henson Leads Tyler Perry's New Psychological Thriller

‎Tyler Perry’s Straw delivers a tightly wound thriller centered on the harrowing day of Janiyah Wiltkinson, portrayed with fierce vulnerability by Taraji P. Henson. A single Black mother barely making ends meet, Janiyah finds herself ensnared in a series of escalating crises that culminate in a chilling hostage situation.

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‎Taraji P. Henson in 'Straw.'

‎Chip Bergmann/Perry Well Films 2/Courtesy Netflix

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‎The day begins with a grim ultimatum: Janiyah must pay $40 to clear her daughter Aria’s school lunch debt or risk her child being publicly shamed again. Her landlord demands rent by sundown, or she’ll be evicted. At work, things unravel further when a dispute with a customer using a WIC card results in friction with her rigid boss Richard (Glynn Turman), who later refuses her a paycheck advance.

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‎Tragedy strikes during a robbery at her workplace, where a confrontation turns deadly. Desperate to protect the seizure medication in her backpack — and reeling from panic — Janiyah fatally shoots one of the robbers and, in the chaos, her boss. She then takes her blood-stained paycheck and crosses the street to cash it, inadvertently sparking a statewide police investigation.

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‎A tense standoff unfolds at the bank. Detective Raymond, played with empathy by Teyana Taylor, is the only officer who recognizes Janiyah’s anguish not as violence but as desperation. Their exchanges pierce through the film’s melodrama, exploring the quiet resilience of Black women routinely overlooked and overburdened by broken systems.

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‎Despite Perry’s signature weaknesses — overwrought metaphors and predictable plotting — Straw is grounded by Henson’s raw, human performance. Janiyah is not merely a character caught in chaos; she is a woman forced to navigate society’s indifference to working-class Black mothers.

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‎The film evokes strong comparisons to Abi Damaris Corbin’s Breaking, though Perry focuses the lens on the maternal experience. Nicole, the bank manager played by Shepherd, adds another layer of quiet resistance, treating Janiyah with cautious empathy rather than hostility.

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‎Perry doesn’t avoid sensationalism, but when the story allows for silence and connection — especially between the three Black women at its center — Straw finds emotional clarity. It is a flawed but affecting reminder of what happens when the weight of daily survival becomes too much to bear.