Straw 2025

Janiyah Wiltkinson, a Taraji P. Henson, is a single mother struggling to make ends meet while caring for her frequently ill daughter, Aria. Their modest apartment is run-down, and daily life is filled with stress and hardship. One morning, as Janiyah prepares Aria for school and bathes her, she sternly warns Aria not to touch her science project, which is an important part of her schoolwork. Aria, frustrated by her limitations and unable to bathe herself, complains about the fact that her teacher announced her mother couldn’t afford her lunch, adding to Janiyah’s worries about finances.

Despite these worries, Janiyah does her best to focus on getting Aria to school and making it to her job at a grocery store. Before leaving, she takes a moment to exchange change with a neighbor in a wheelchair, an act that sparks the ire of her landlord, who threatens eviction if rent isn’t paid by 10 a.m. She then drops Aria off, noticing that the principal gives them a strange glance, hinting at underlying concerns. At her workplace, the day takes a turn for the worse when a customer throws a bottle at her after she refuses to accept a WIC card for items that are not eligible. Her boss, displaying a lack of empathy, orders her to clean up the mess immediately, and she is informed that her paycheck will not be released.

The situation worsens when Janiyah receives a distressing call: Aria suffered a seizure during her bath and was injured. Her boss demands she return to work within thirty minutes but refuses to give her her paycheck. Desperate to provide for her daughter’s needs, Janiyah rushes to the bank to withdraw money for Aria’s lunch, only to find the line too long. While at school, she is confronted again, this time by Child Protective Services and the principal, who take Aria into custody, claiming she needs medical attention. Janiyah pleads fiercely, begging to keep her daughter and her medication, but they leave without her.

As she drives in the rain, overwhelmed and emotional, an incident occurs where she accidentally cuts off an off-duty police officer. He reacts violently, throwing a drink at her and forcing her off the road. When police arrive, they impound her car because of expired documents, adding to her frustrations. Returning home only to find her belongings thrown out and her eviction finalized, Janiyah’s situation continues to spiral downward. She confronts her former boss at the store, but while doing so, chaos erupts when two armed robbers break in. One demands Aria’s backpack, which she refuses to surrender. During the struggle, Janiyah manages to grab a gun and shots are fired—she striking one of the robbers in self-defense.

In the aftermath, her former boss accuses her of masterminding the robbery, but she insists the attacker knew her only because of her name tag. In a state of panic, Janiyah is forced to shoot her boss as well, killing him in her desperation and fleeing the scene with her paycheck. Her attempt to cash the check at the bank escalates when the teller refuses to honor it without proper ID, prompting Janiyah to brandish a gun to force the transaction. Recognized by the teller, she is soon caught in a tense standoff that triggers a silent alarm, drawing police and investigators to the scene.

Detective Kay Raymond, a former Army negotiator, offers to communicate with Janiyah through a calm and empathetic phone call, slowly building trust. Meanwhile, a bank teller covertly live streams the tense hostage situation, garnering public support. When the situation escalates, Raymond intervenes, revealing the identity of the officer who harassed Janiyah and detaining him. Working quickly, Raymond and Nicole, the bank manager, coordinate to disable security cameras and reveal that the supposed bomb threat is actually a misunderstanding involving Aria’s science project. Inside the bank, Raymond’s determination leads to him physically confronting the officer who mistreated Janiyah, demanding the FBI allow her to communicate.

Janiyah, overwhelmed and emotionally drained, receives a phone call from her mother, who tragically informs her that Aria died during her seizure the previous night. Flashbacks reveal that the presence of Aria during the day was a hallucination—actually, the school never contacted her, and CPS was never involved. Nicole’s silent support hints that she knew the truth all along, shielding Janiyah from the devastating reality.

As the FBI prepares to storm the bank with tear gas, Janiyah seemingly gets shot in a hallucination, but she is ultimately peacefully guided to surrender by Detective Raymond with Nicole by her side. Her journey through a day filled with chaos, loss, and confusion underscores a complex mixture of trauma, resilience, and the harsh realities faced by many. The film leaves viewers contemplating the thin line between perception and reality, highlighting the struggles of a mother navigating unimaginable circumstances while fighting to protect her memories, her dignity, and her life.