For over two decades, Taraji P. Henson has graced the screen with her acting chops, earning some delightfully memorable performances under her belt. She is most famously known for her role as Cookie Lyons in Empire, where she strikes the balance between brutally honest and downright lovable as she viciously stakes her claim in her ex-husband’s hip-hop empire. While this performance is layered, Henson has also pursued more emotional ones, like the precise nuance of portraying a real-life mathematician in NASA’s space program in Hidden Figures, or the surge of power present in her vocal act in The Color Purple. But her latest endeavor, Netflix’s Straw, pushes Henson further than we have ever seen as she delivers her most emotionally provocative performance on the screen yet.
‘Straw’ Sees Henson’s Most Emotionally Intense Role

Henson is at the center of Straw, playing Janiyah, a single Black mother who faces the harsh realities of an unforgiving and indifferent world, and is pushed to the brink (or right over it) in a single day due to a series of heart-breaking events. She finds herself at the helm of a hostage situation in a bank, where she finds unexpected allies in the bank teller, Nicole (Sherri Shepherd), and one of the law enforcement officers outside the building, Detective Raymond (Teyana Taylor). While the intensity of the atmosphere escalates, so does Henson’s performance, becoming a driving force for the film’s wider commentary and its power, managing to touch the hearts of audiences everywhere as the film reached #1 on Netflix very quickly after its release. The film is very on-brand with Tyler Perry’s oeuvre, and this is not the first time Henson has collaborated with Perry by stepping into emotionally dense roles. The most notable is Acrimony, where Henson boasts her range from utter devotion to fierce, all-consuming fury, creating a character who demands our attention. But the role of Janiyah in Straw demands a whole new level of emotional rawness and endurance. Henson must and does sustain a tireless level of distress, alienation, betrayal and desperation, impressing us even just by the consistency of her performance. But two scenes truly encapsulate Henson’s capacity for this degree of intensity and her ability to ensure the heart of this movie impacts us all.
Henson Conveys Today’s Unforgiving Socioeconomic Environment

Before Straw’s jaw-dropping twist, we believe that it is the bitter realities of living paycheck-to-paycheck as a single Black mother that causes Janiyah’s psychological spiral, and this is true to some extent. In an interview with Decider, Henson explains that during the first act, she “played the honesty of living [Janiyah’s] life, as if nothing happened,” and this honesty culminates in and is embodied by Janiyah’s live-streamed monologue. One of the hostages in the bank began discreetly live-streaming the situation, and unaware of this, Janiyah recounts her day on the phone to Detective Raymond and in person to Nicole. Backed by a script that prioritized direct statements, Henson delivers this monologue with an aching, raw simplicity that cohesively conveys Janiyah’s lived experience and all the emotion surrounding it. Janiyah’s vulnerability won the audience of the livestream, who rallied around her and protested for her freedom, directly reflecting how Straw has a firm touch on the pulse of today’s socioeconomic environment. Just like how the livestream ensured Janiyah’s voice was heard and valued, the film spotlights the voices of the Black community, single mothers, and people living paycheck to paycheck. Henson’s soul-bearing performance during this monologue is how the film’s wider commentary packs such a punch. Once again, Straw’s and Henson’s ability to tap into that cultural urgency and relevancy is supported by the film’s immense popularity on Netflix.
Henson Breaks Our Hearts in ‘Straw’s Final Twist

Image via Perry Well Films

While Henson’s performance during the monologue conveys the power of the external forces impacting Janiyah, the power of Janiyah’s internal forces is depicted in the scene of the final revelation. When she finally confronts the fact her daughter actually died the night before, something cracks in Janiyah, and Henson relays this acute personal trauma in her devastating and visceral reaction. Eyes widened, mouth agape and frozen in shock with a slight tremble, Henson makes us understand the enormity of the trauma and Janiyah’s justified inability to cope with it. It’s a physical representation of how Janiyah’s day was in light of this revelation, where time stands still, and she’s lost in her head, unable to face reality quite yet, though during this scene, she does. The twist renders the day’s events in a gut-wrenching light, as we realize it was muscle memory propelling her forward. This, in turn, lends more power to the wider commentary, where life for many people like Janiyah is simply going through the motions. The revelation, paired with Henson’s performance, gives these thematic implications an intimate touch, enveloping audiences in this final soul-crushing blow, as if to say, there will always be another heartache around each corner. With Henson’s performance at the heart of Straw, her heightened capacity for emotional intensity highlights the ongoing issues within these communities, making for her most provocative, raw, and enduring role yet. Straw is available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.

STRAW

Release Date

June 6, 2025

Runtime

105 minutes