As a single parent with a sick child and money troubles, the odds are already stacked against you.
Netflix’s new film Straw explores what happens when they mount up to such an extent it pushes a person to breaking point – to the final straw.
Released on the streaming service on 6 June, the film was written and directed by Tyler Perry and stars Taraji P Henson as single mum Janiyah.
Perry said: “She’s just trying to survive, trying to be a great mother to her daughter, and then the circumstances in life put her in this situation.”
What is Straw about?
Straw is about hardworking, single mother Janiyah Wiltkinson, whose entire world unravels in one day.
Henson said: “Straw is about a woman who reaches her tipping point.
“In other words, Janiyah (Henson) is on her last straw.
“Everything that can go wrong, goes wrong in this one day.
“It’s about how humans operate in that heightened state of panic and anxiety and pressure.
“When the pot is boiling and it finally explodes, what happens?
“What does that look like, and how does it affect the people around you?”
A sequence of incidents, starting with her daughter being ill, see her life spiral out of control as she struggles to take care of her sick daughter.
Behind with her rent, pulled over by the police in her car, fired by her unsympathetic boss, her money troubles eventually find her caught up in a bank heist which culminates in a shooting.
And the heart of all of it is Janiyah’s desperate attempt to do the best by her daughter Aria.
Who is in the cast of Straw?
Taraji P Henson
Taraji P Henson stars as Janiyah Wiltkinson, a single mum whose bad day spirals out of control into disaster.
Discussing her tole with Tudum, she said: “Janiyah is a woman who doesn’t really have a voice.
“She hasn’t been allowed to find it and she’s just trying to survive under the radar.
“I don’t even really think she wants to be seen by many people.
“She just wants to do what’s right for her daughter and live her life.”
American actress Henson, 54, rose to fame playing Inspector Raina Washington in The Division, she has also starred in Person of Interest, Empire and Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist.
She played American mathematician Katherine Johnson in Hidden Figures, Queenie in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Ann Atwater in The Best of Enemies and Shug Avery in The Color Purple.
Sherri Shepherd
Sherri Shepherd is Nicole Parker, the branch manager of a bank called Benevolent Pain and Trust.
Speaking about her character, she said: “Nicole wants to help her people.
“She really does. She wants to make a difference and feels she hasn’t been able to do that.
“When Janiyah walks into the bank with the weight of the world on her shoulders, it just calls to Nicole.”
Actress, comedian and presenter Shepherd is known for her chat show Sherri.
The 58-year-old has also starred in the sitcom Sherri, The Jamie Foxx Show, Less Than Perfect, Trial & Error and Mr Iglesias.
Teyana Taylor
Teyana Taylor appears as police officer Kay Raymond, who is also a single mum.
The American actress, singer, dancer and model said: “She’s a cool cop.
“She’s very fair in this case, very passionate, compassionate, and empathetic.
“I see a lot of Raymond in Janiyah and vice versa, with both of them being single moms, both of them coming from single-mom homes.
“So she could empathise and sympathise with her a lot as well.”
Taylor, 34, rose to prominence in the film Stomp the Yard: Homecoming. She has subsequently appeared in Cruel Summer, The After Party, White Men Can’t Jump, The Book of Clarence and A Thousand and One.
Glynn Turman
Glynn Turman appears as Richard, Janiyah’s boss who reprimands her for disappearing to her child’s school and then fires her.
American actor Turman, 78, has starred in the films Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Rustin, The Way Back, Race and Sextuplets.
On television, he is known for his roles in Peyton Place, A Different World, Resurrection Blvd, Big Apple, All of Us, In Treatment, House of Lies and Women of the Movement.
The cast of Straw also includes:
- Sinbad as Benny (Atlanta, Rel, Dropout)
- Rockmond Dunbar as Chief Wilson (9-1-1, Prison Break, The Path)
- Ashley Versher as Tessa George (Beauty in Black, #Love My Roomie)
- Mike Merrill as Detective Grimes (The Black Hamptons, Finding Happy)
- Shalet Monique as Rayah Dunnam (A Price to Pay, Adopted)
- Diva Tyler as Isabella (Halloween, The Wonder Years)
- Fracaswell Hyman as Marvin (Atlanta, The Burial, Found)
- Doris Woodruff as Dorothy (Lovecraft Country, Found, Bruh)
Is Straw based on a true story?
Straw is not based on a true story but it is inspired by a real-life experiences, according to the writer and director Tyler Perry.
He told Tudum: “The movie represents three different types of Black women, who are all the same Black woman, who are all different walks of life, different stages of success, but can all empathise with each other.”
He believes audiences will recognise and relate with Janiyah as a single mother trying to do her best to survive but pushed to the brink after a series of events because many of us know someone who has had a similar experience.
He said, “I think that a lot of people around the world, no matter if you’re a Black woman or not, will be able to relate to that feeling of, ‘I’m at my last straw.’
“And I know that there are a lot of Janiyahs out there in the world for real.”
