Straw (2025) Movie Review

The Review Geek

2 days ago

Hitting breaking point
Tyler Perry is back, and this time the auteur has turned his hand to a pressure-cooker thriller in the form of Straw. This Netflix movie is simple in premise and execution, with a series of escalating incidents leading to a big misunderstanding, murder, and a stand-off at a bank. The film does include a 'twist' at the end, although unfortunately, it undermines the themes of the movie and feels designed more for shock value than as a well-thought-out surprise.
The story here predominantly centers on a single mother named Janiyah. She works two jobs, is eking out a living, can barely afford to pay rent on her dingy apartment, and is close to breaking point. Unfortunately, today is going to be the worst day of her life.
After dropping her daughter off at school, Janiyah finds herself in trouble with the police, fired from her job, and left on the street when she can't pay the overdue rent to her abrasive landlord.
Intervening in the middle of a robbery, Janiyah shoots the robber and then turns the gun on her boss and pulls the trigger. Heading to a nearby bank with her bloodied cheque, her backpack (including her daughter's science project, which looks suspiciously like a bomb), and a handgun, a stand-off ensues as police close in on her.
The story clearly takes inspiration from movies like Falling Down, while trying to channel the same uneasy tension seen in films like Phone Booth. The execution, though, is clunky, with heavy-handed messaging and one-dimensional characters that struggle to break free from Perry's archetypal shackles.
The movie attempts to make us empathize with Janiyah's plight and while yes, we can obviously understand why she's snapped, she murders two people and holds hostages in a bank. It's a weird framing device, especially as law enforcement – and in particular the heavy-handed FBI – are framed as the bad guys in this situation.
The story is a little overlong at times as a result of all this, which isn't helped by the frenetic opening to the film. In an attempt to bring you into Janiyah's world, the first 30 minutes are relentless. Expect quick cuts, full-on shouting, crazy antics, drama, and bloodshed. It almost borders on melodrama, but thankfully Straw never tips over the edge into farcical waters.
I can't help but feel a more gradual build-up, slowly stacking these misery cards before an inciting incident (this robbery) turns everything upside down, could have helped – especially if the misunderstanding was played up a lot more.
This is a particular problem because the middle act of the movie slows down considerably as we start to understand more about Janiyah's life. You see, Janiyah's daughter, Aria, suffers from seizures and has asthma. She also appears to be bullied at school (it's never outright said, but her teacher seems to hold a grudge against her) and is very much Janiyah's entire world.
During this time, we also hear from some of the other hostages, who seem to understand why Janiyah is keeping them against their will and sympathize with her. It's here we're introduced to Detective Kay Raymond, who empathizes with Janiyah's plight and tries to talk her down during their negotiations. She's also a negotiations expert from her time in the army, but aside from a couple of lines of dialogue about her past, we don't see a whole lot else from her. This is a real shame, because Raymond, out of all the characters, feels like the one with the most untapped potential.
The movie never seems all that interested in actually fleshing out the cast though, instead keeping the attention squarely on Janiyah and, to a lesser extent, Raymond. Beyond that, everyone else is pretty much a one-dimensional archetype.
We have the loudmouth landlord who curses constantly, the rude, prejudiced white cops, and the older women who sympathize with Janiyah out of wisdom and lived experience. There's never much in the way of tension inside the bank either, which isn't helped by us already knowing that the item inside Janiyah's rucksack isn't a bomb. I can't help but feel that a rewrite to obscure this from the audience – so we're led to believe Janiyah may actually have a bomb – could have ratcheted up the tension.
Production-wise, Straw is pretty good, and the camerawork is decent across the board. Taraji P. Henson puts on a really solid performance as the exasperated mum at the end of her tether, and she really carries the movie forward.
However, when you compare Straw to other thrillers of its kind, there's really not a whole lot here to write home about. The movie has a decent enough message, but it's muddied by the moral implications around Janiyah's actions. While the intention is clear, the execution is sloppy – which is a shame, because there's definitely potential here.
Read More: Straw Ending Explained