There is no such thing as subtlety in Straw; honestly, that adds to its appeal. Never one to whisper when he can shout, Tyler Perry delivers a pulpy, emotionally charged drama reminiscent of John Q. filtered through Madea’s Family Reunion only this time, front and centre, and she’s had it.
Henson channelled a furnace of mother desperation as Janiyah Wiltkinson. She is a single mother juggling a sick child, crushing poverty, and a society that seems designed to keep her one step away from disaster. Starting as a pressure-cooker portrait of a woman pushed to the brink, straw then joyfully throws her over it.
Unquestionably interesting, this is a Tyler Perry special: emotionally honest, morally sincere, occasionally clumsy. Janiyah’s “bad day” snowballs from daily injustices — a repo’d car, a scumbag boss, racist cops — into full-blown chaos involving a bloody paycheck, a hostage situation, and a bomb scare maybe related to her daughter’s science project. Although it sounds like a joke, Perry’s hands handle it as deadly serious, and shockingly moving.
Straw moves more towards emotional catharsis than towards narrative mechanics when the movie locks into its central standoff. Especially when the movie pauses for monologues on systematic injustice, economic hopelessness, and motherhood under siege, Janiyah’s suffering is felt. It’s theatrical; yes, people don’t communicate this way in real life, but it strikes shockingly true.
Henson gives the part her all, operatic. Some times are a lot (yes, she screams in the rain), but she is magnetic when the camera closes in on her gathering resolve or breaking down. As women who see their own reflection in Janiyah’s disintegration, Sherri Shepherd and Teyana Taylor give grounded, impacting performances. They are emotional mirrors, not merely supporting players.
Is it orderly? Certainly. Perry still finds it difficult with tone and tempo. The movie veers from brutal realism to almost satire without warning, and the climax teases cartoon logic. Still, Straw works; not because it’s polished but rather because it bleeds sincerity.
Best of all, Straw is a cathartic howl on behalf of women crushed under the weight of survival. Though it may not be polished, it is absolutely real.
