Straw (2025)

Plot Summary: Janiyah Wiltkinson (Taraji P. Henson), a desperate single mother of a seriously ill daughter, spirals through eviction, job loss, and tragedy in one catastrophic day. In a last-ditch attempt to get medicine, she starts a bank standoff — but a shocking twist reveals her daughter actually died hours earlier, and Janiyah has been dissociating from reality. Eventually, with support from a bank manager and detective, she surrenders peacefully amid growing public sympathy.

Director & Writer: Tyler Perry
Producer(s): Tyler Perry
Cinematography: Justyn Moro
Music: Dara Taylor
Editing: Nick Coker

Cast:
Taraji P. Henson as Janiyah Wiltkinson
Sherri Shepherd as Nicole (bank manager)
Teyana Taylor as Detective Raymond
Sinbad as Benny
Glynn Turman as Richard (Janiyah’s boss)
Rockmond Dunbar as Chief Wilson
Ashley Versher as Tessa

 

***SPOILER ALERT***

A Promising Start (Sort Of)

Another fresh drop on Netflix, Straw brings us a nearly all-Black cast, with the only white characters conveniently filling in as the villains. Some might call that reverse racism, but hey, we’ve had more than enough movies with reversed roles, so it’s fine. The movie opens strong. When Janiyah drops her daughter off at school without lunch money, my heart cracked a little. Then we cut to what might be the most chaotic supermarket in America. It felt exaggerated, unrealistic even — but who knows, maybe it’s like that somewhere.

Plot Holes and Confused Detectives

Now, let's get into the bigger issues with the plot and character development. The timeline between the bank incident and the police investigation was incredibly jarring and didn't make much sense. Those had to be the worst detectives ever; how could they not find the police officer who threatened Janiyah? Teyana Taylor's acting, as Detective Kay Raymond, was way over the top, but even worse was the "evil" cop – his performance was just awful. In general, I found most of the acting to be average to bad, with the notable exception of Taraji P. Henson, who, despite the plot not helping her much, still did a good job. The way doubts are raised in Detective Raymond's mind felt completely unrealistic. No police officer would try to justify or find reasons for a main character's innocence after seeing them shoot their boss on CCTV footage. And somehow, everyone is listening to her and being persuaded that she might be right about Janiyah's innocence? She should've been fired for being so off-base; it was truly bad writing.

The Twist That Kills It

The movie does feature a big twist that I genuinely didn't see coming, but that's not necessarily a good thing. I'd label it an "Heavy Rain" kind of plot twist – for any gamers out there who know what I mean. Basically, the movie makes things up and lies to you, showing you events that are later explained to have never actually happened. This felt like really bad writing from Tyler Perry, and it left me feeling completely fooled. While the idea of our main character being delusional had potential, the reveal and the extent to which they altered past events were poorly executed. There's also a completely unnecessary scene where Janiyah fantasizes about a SWAT team breaking into the bank and killing her. Why was that even in the movie? It felt like an alternative ending they just decided to throw in for no reason. The film also had a lot of cringe moments and dragged in certain parts. The music was okay and served its purpose, with no strange choices there. The cinematography was also just okay; it didn't offer anything original and felt like a guided, by-the-book approach. Ultimately, I can't recommend this movie, mostly because of that "Heavy Rain" style plot twist – I really can't stand those.

🎥 Cinematography (4/10):

Standard TV look. Functional, but uninspired.

📖 Story (3/10):

Starts strong, then dives headfirst into twist-over-logic territory.

🎬 Direction (3/10):

Tyler Perry aims big, but the execution misses the emotional mark.

👥 Characters (3/10):

Some potential, but poorly written and hard to believe.

💥 Visual Effects (2/10):

Whatever.

🎭 Acting (4/10):

Taraji P. Henson delivers, but most of the cast feels flat or over-the-top.

💬 Dialogue (3/10):

Unnatural and forced in key scenes.

🌍 Setting/Atmosphere (4/10):

Black neighborhood and a bank, whatever.

🎵 Music (5/10):

Does its job without standing out. No weird choices at least.

😄 Entertainment Value (4/10):

Had potential, but the sluggish pacing weighs it down, and the plot twist, though intriguing in concept, is clumsily executed.