MOVIE REVIEW ON 'STRAW'

Good evening people. I’m back with a review on another movie. Well, I wanted to share it because this movie is definitely an emotional knockout, that’s most likely to bring you to tears.

The plot twist was shocking and its definitely worth the watch. After watching the movie, I was silent for a few more minutes while reminiscing the scenes. It wasn’t just about the ending, it was the way the movie unfolded sadly.

STRAW is a movie directed by Tyler Perry and was released on the 6th of June 2025. I heard words from this movie from my friends and well…Tiktok. About how this movie was such an emotional twist and they cried while watching it. I thought to give it a try and see if it was worth the hype, and also since I haven’t cried while watching a movie in a long time.

This movie centers on Janiyah Wiltkinson (A black single mother) handling two jobs just so she could pay her house rent and give her ill daughter a good life. It was hard taking care of her daughter due to her illness, and her expensive medication. She tries her best. It was so hard taking care of her child off of what she makes.

The teachers and principals of her daughter’s school reported to the ‘Children and Family Services’ saying her daughter comes to school very hungry, with bruises and that she’s not very clean. They took her daughter away from her, saying she wasn’t safe with her.

Janiyah was already going through a lot, she was heading back to work when her car hit a white police officer. Now, I don’t know what he has against her, but he chased after her and was very aggressive, and he threatened her that if he were to ever see her again, he’d take actions.

Janiyah went back to work and her boss made things complicated by firing her. She didn’t stress much, she just asked for her pay. But he refused.I thought things couldn’t get any worse for Janiyah.

Getting home, she found all her things outside getting drenched by the rain, her landlady had kicked her out. She broke down into tears at that moment, and tried to pick up her things.

At that point, I was pained for Janiyah. Her daughter was gone, she was fired and then put out of her house. She was barely making it.

“Nobody cares, nobody sees us. This is my life. Over and over and over and over”. This had me in tears. Janiyah represents the struggle every single mother goes through just to take care of their children. It was so heart wrenching.

Janiyah didn’t know what else to do, she went to beg her boss for her pay. She just had to be there at the wrong time, the shop was being robbed. All the money was in a bag but Janiyah refused to let go of the bag. In a way, she grabbed the gun and shot the thief.

Her boss blamed her for setting it all up and wanted to call the police. She didn’t know what else to do, so she shot him as well. Janiyah went to the bank to cash her check just so she could get it to her daughter. But they just wouldn’t let her because she didn’t have her ID. And she was with a gun so they thought she wanted to rob the bank.

And this is where Detective Raymond comes in, she’s the one in charge of Janiyah’s case, the murder at the store and well, this so-claimed bank robbery.

Detective Raymond was the only one who could understand what Janiyah was going through, she was the only one who could speak to Janiyah, who could talk and ease her to come out of the bank.And just when she was about to surrender, she gets a call from her mother, saying her daughter had died the night before due to a seizure.

She dealt with the grief of losing her daughter, this really had me in tears. Janiyah was having a breakdown and so was I.

Janiyah would do anything for her daughter, just so she could be better. She struggled, fought and was pushed to the edge. It was so sad and it pained me that in the end, she lost the only thing she so desperately fought for. It’s been a while since I cried when watching a good movie.

This movie shows that this world needs to be kind and be less judgmental. Straw is a movie that portrays how people carry their pain and struggle silently. And I can say straw is worth watching.

Thanks for reading 💓.