Watch or Pass? Tyler Perry’s Straw on Netflix Feels Familiar and Over-Sentimental, but Taraji P. Henson Delivers

Tyler Perry is no stranger to emotionally charged storytelling, and in his latest Netflix drama, Straw, he turns the volume all the way up.

To be clear, the title Tyler Perry’s Straw (now streaming on Netflix) is a reference to “the last straw”—as in the final push before everything breaks.

As for the “Tyler Perry” part? By now, you likely know what that means: either an over-the-top thriller or a broad comedy, usually stitched together with hurried writing and questionable wigs. And Straw doesn’t stray from the Perry playbook.

It even stars Taraji P. Henson, her fourth collaboration with Perry, who reportedly shot all her scenes in just four days. Fast, familiar, and full of shortcuts… classic Tyler Perry.

Yet despite its flaws, Straw lands a few emotional punches. Anchored by a gut-wrenching performance from Henson, the film dives deep into themes of mental health, single motherhood, and the quiet desperation many women face behind closed doors.

Tyler Perry’s STRAW has the following synopsis:

“A single mother’s world unravels in chaos as her day goes from bad to worse to catastrophic as she struggles to care for her ill daughter. Pushed to the brink by a world that seems indifferent to her existence, she’s forced to confront impossible choices in a society that offers her no safety net.”

But while the message is clear and the performances strong, Straw ultimately suffers from Perry’s old Achilles’ heel, melodrama, heavy-handedness, and plot devices that trade subtlety for spectacle.

The Good: Taraji’s Tour de Force

Let’s start with what Straw gets absolutely right—Taraji P. Henson.

Playing Janiyah, a single mother at the edge of despair, Henson delivers one of her most emotionally vulnerable performances to date.

Her portrayal of a woman pushed to the brink by unpaid bills, joblessness, and overwhelming grief is raw, layered, and deeply human. At times, you almost feel like you’re intruding on something too private, too painful.

Sherri Shepherd, as a warm, empathetic bank manager, brings calm in the storm, and Teyana Taylor holds her own as Detective Raymond, offering a surprisingly nuanced performance that adds grit to the film’s tense second half.

The Bad: When Drama Becomes Soap Opera

While the cast holds their end of the bargain, the writing and pacing don’t.

Straw starts off strong, but quickly spirals into overdramatisation. Within minutes, we’re plunged into a hostage situation in a bank lobby—complete with thunder, SWAT teams, and slow-motion breakdowns.

The line between reality and hallucination becomes so blurred it’s hard to keep up, and when the twist is finally revealed (spoiler: it’s all in her head), it feels more like a narrative cop-out than a meaningful revelation.

Perry once again leans into his habit of spelling things out rather than letting them simmer. Systemic racism? Present, but in the form of cartoonishly racist cops.

Economic desperation? Highlighted, but in jarringly staged dialogue. It’s all very loud, very urgent, and sometimes, very much too much.

The Ugly: Stereotypes and Missed Opportunities

While the movie intends to raise awareness about mental health in Black communities, particularly for women, it occasionally veers into stereotypical territory.

The white, aggressive officer, the emotionally absent man, the all-too-convenient science project mistaken for a bomb—these feel like shortcuts rather than storytelling.

And for all its ambition, Straw rarely slows down enough to explore the psychological nuances it seems so desperate to unpack. We are told Janiyah is unraveling, but we’re never truly shown her interior world beyond the theatrics.

Still, despite its flaws, Straw leaves a mark. The film succeeds in forcing conversations around mental health, grief, and support systems, especially in communities where “strong Black woman” narratives often prevent honest vulnerability. In that sense, Perry’s heart is in the right place.

What works best is not the shootout or the twist, but the quiet moments, the side-eyes from other women in the lobby, the prayerful silence, the exhausted sighs. These glimpses of shared struggle and silent solidarity offer something that’s often missing in mainstream films: truth.

Final Verdict: 2.5/5

Straw is a well-intentioned emotional freight train with a compelling lead performance and social relevance. But it’s bogged down by clunky writing, implausible plot twists, and Perry’s trademark tendency to hammer home messages rather than let them breathe.

If you’re a fan of Perry’s dramatic style or want to witness Taraji P. Henson in one of her most gripping roles yet, it’s worth the watch. Just be prepared for a wild ride through emotional chaos, narrative leaps, and a climax that may leave you thinking… Was all that necessary?