Taraji P. Henson’s single mother snaps

“As bad as it is, there’s always someone doin’ it worse!”

That’s just one of the pearls of wisdom dropped in Straw (now streaming on Netflix), an effectively tense action-melodrama set during a particularly rotten day in which a hard-working woman who only wants to take care of her daughter finally snaps. (The “straw” of the title is either the “last” one or the one that “broke the camel’s back.” Considering how rough things are, it might be both.)

Taraji P. Henson is immediately sympathetic as Janiyah, an exhausted single mother living in a none-too-luxurious apartment with no air conditioning, thin walls, and loud neighbors. Her motivation to keep going is her adorable young daughter Aria, who, despite medical issues (seizures, asthma), maintains a sunny attitude. Plus, she’s a kid genius, as made evident by the science project Janiyah schleps around in her bag — which is pretty soon going to be mistaken for a bomb.

But before that can happen, we need a series of increasingly infuriating rough breaks. First, there are the kids making fun of Aria for not having money for lunch. Then, there’s the landlord who wants the back rent now now now. And there are the aggressive customers at Janiyah’s supermarket job, her uncaring boss (a marvelously mustache-twirling Glynn Turman), the child services team that yanks Aria away amid much screaming and crying, and the racist cops who run Janiyah off the road and confiscate her car.

She can’t take it anymore, she needs the paycheck she’s owed from her lousy boss, even if she’s been fired. (Oh yeah, she also got fired and evicted.) She goes back to the supermarket to demand her pay, when, wouldn’t you know it, there’s a robbery. In a whirl of confusion, safes are emptied, calls to the police are made, and a gun goes off. 

Panicked, Janiyah runs across the street to the bank, where the manager, Nicole (Sherri Shepherd), has always been kind to her. In a bit of a fugue state, Janiyah seems to think that all will be well if she can just cash her damn check. Never mind that the check is bloody, there’s a dead body at the supermarket, and she’s holding a gun and an eerily bomb-like science project.

Suddenly, we’re in a Dog Day Afternoon standoff situation. Cops arrive, including Teyana Taylor’s Detective Raymond, who senses that this crazy situation was not premeditated, and Janiyah is someone who needs help. 

Inside the bank, after a few people clear out, we’re left with a multigenerational array of Black women, all of whom have felt various degrees of Janiyah’s struggle. She connects with Detective Raymond on the phone, and the hostage negotiations are put on pause so these ladies can start getting real, as if on an old episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show. (“People don’t know how expensive it is to be poor,” is one of those lines that remind you why writer-director Tyler Perry is such a success.)

When a video leak makes its way “to the internet,” every city bus and barber shop is filled with people glued to their phones, nodding their heads as Janiyah expresses her struggles. “Nobody cares! Nobody sees us!” she cries. And that’s when she morphs into a Luigi Mangione-like cult figure, with sign-wielding fans calling her name outside the bank. (One such sign reads “Nevertheless, She Persisted.”)

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Straw is not exactly subtle, but the emotions are so raw and the performances are so earnest that you’ve really got to have a heart of stone not to care for these people. And haven’t we all lost our heads a little bit and done something a wee bit foolish? Sure, rushing into a bank with a loaded pistol may be a bit extreme, but it’s pretty hard not to relate. 

As with many Tyler Perry projects (including my favorite, Boo! A Madea Halloween), there are some pacing issues. To cite one specific, shallow example, it moves from day to night in about three seconds, making you wonder what scenes got cut out. There are also police officers and FBI agents barking at one another like opposing captains of rival high school football teams. I’ve never been in a hostage negotiation situation room before, but I have a hunch these people behave with a bit more professionalism. 

Henson’s performance is big and broad, and when she starts freaking out she really swings for the fences. Some moments don’t work (going down on her knees to scream “noooooo!” in the rain as the camera cranes up is a bit much), and there are several sequences where you really feel her spiraling into terror. 

Sherri Shepherd and Teyana Taylor are also both quite good as women who recognize in Janiyah a “there but for the grace of God go I” situation as they try to give this story an acceptable outcome. The movie has a wild, enveloping conclusion that may be a bit far-fetched for some, but it’s anything but grasping at straws. Grade: B