If “you never know what someone else is going through” were a movie, it would be Straw.
Tyler Perry’s latest film doesn’t hit you all at once. It wears you down, just like life does.
P. Henson’s performance is central to Straw’s emotional impact. She channels the exhaustion and resilience of a single mother pushed to the edge, drawing from her own experiences.
There’s no melodrama, no villain twirling a mustache. Just real life, falling apart one little piece at a time. And for anyone who has ever lived on the brink, it’s all too relatable.
What Is Straw About?
Straw follows a hardworking single Black mother doing everything she can to keep her family afloat. She’s clocking in, making impossible choices, skipping meals, and navigating a healthcare system that would rather let her child die than make medicine affordable.
And in a world where people still say “just get a job,” Straw is a sobering counterargument.
Why Straw Feels So Personal to So Many
This isn’t just a story about one fictional woman, it’s a story about a real life system.
Watching Straw as a working single mom myself, I didn’t feel like I was watching a character. I felt like I was watching a version of what so many of us are quietly enduring. I work multiple jobs. I’ve waited until my kids are done eating to make sure they have enough before I eat a meal. I’ve borrowed money to make rent. I’ve lost job opportunities because my kids were sick. And I know I’m not alone. My situation is not unique, and it’s not nearly as dire as some.
I recognize that I have the privilege to be able to write about it. To shout into the void until someone hears.
Straw does that on screen. loud, raw, and unrelenting.
Straw Isn’t Just a Movie. It’s a Mirror.
It’s not a “wake-up call” for people who are already struggling.
It’s a challenge to everyone who isn’t.
Because Straw asks a simple but radical question:
What if the problem isn’t the people struggling…
but the system watching them drown and handing them paperwork?
Share This If You’ve Ever:
- Skipped a meal so your kids could eat
- Lost a job because you had no childcare
- Been told to “just get a job”
- Posted your Venmo just to survive
You are not alone. You are not lazy. You are not broken.
You are living through something that far too many Americans are forced to normalize.
