Straw: Tyler Perry's movie that everyone won't stop talking about

Since the release of this movie on the 6th of June, 2025, it's all I've been hearing about. A couple of my friends recommended the movie to me but I wasn't really interested because of the kind of movie it was. "I don't watch sad movies" those were my exact words After series of persuasion I decided to just watch it. Damn! I really don't have any word to describe the movie... We've all had one of those days where everything just feels like it's going wrong? Like life woke up and chose 'violence' against you? Like you woke up on the wrong side of bed or something?Yeah... now imagine that—but times ten. That’s basically what happens in "Straw" The movie starring Taraji P. Henson as 'Janiyah' a single mom whose whole world is hanging on by a 'tiny' thread. From the very beginning, we feel it: the tension, the tightness, the quiet panic of just trying to hold it all together. Janiyah’s daughter, Aria, is sick. The bills are past due. Her job? Stressful. Her apartment? Falling apart. And everyone around her seems to be either ignoring her or making her day harder. Sound familiar? That feeling of trying to stay calm when you’re already at your breaking point? Now here’s where things get wild.In one day—Janiyah gets fired, evicted, harassed, humiliated, and stretched way past her limit. Her daughter gets sick again. She’s denied her paycheck. And after a run-in with an aggressive off-duty cop and a robbery gone wrong… she snaps. Like, 'really' snaps. She walks into a bank with what she thinks is her daughter's school project in her bag—and boom! A bomb scare. Suddenly, she’s being called a terrorist. The bank's in lockdown. Cops surround the place. But what no one knows is: "this woman is not okay." Not mentally. Not emotionally. And definitely not physically. Now here’s the part that breaks you: her daughter, Aria? 'She had died the night before.' Everything Janiyah did that day—talking to her, seeing her, carrying her stuff—was her 'grieving mind' trying to pretend she still had something to fight for. And isn’t that real? Sometimes we move through life pretending we’re okay just so we don’t completely fall apart. We show up, go to work, answer texts, post stories… meanwhile, inside, we’re carrying this invisible weight that no one sees and is really weighing us down. That’s what this movie does so well. It shows what happens when someone finally says 'enough'. When you feel invisible for too long, unheard for too long, and unsupported for too long… your mind can crack. And Janiyah’s breakdown isn’t about crime—it’s about the "pain of being human and unheard". 'Straw' doesn’t just leave us in the dark. It reminds us to look closer. To ask people how they 'really' are. To understand that the strong ones are often the ones closest to breaking. To look closely at those around us and try to offer help in any way way we can What I see as Tyler Perry’s message is that : Sometimes it’s not about the “crazy lady in the bank.” It’s about the system that pushed her there. The community that failed her. The trauma she buried just to survive one more day. Taraji P. Henson ate in this role, she really delivered. Respect to her. She gave us the fear, the fragility, the fury—and the heartbreak. She communicated those feelings very well. You don’t watch this movie to be entertained. You watch it to feel. To think. To maybe check on that friend who hasn’t been themselves lately. So, here’s the real question the movie leaves us with: How many people do we walk past every day… not knowing they’re on their last straw? What's your thoughts about the movie?Will you also give it a shot?Let me know in the comments Thanks for reading<a class="tc-blue" href="https://twocents.space/insights/tag/alo">#Alo</a>

Other insights from Esther Alo

Referral Earning

Points-to-Coupons