According to its tagline on IMDb, Straw follows a “single mother [who] navigates a series of unfortunate events, leading her down an unforeseen path where she becomes embroiled in a situation she never envisioned, finding herself at the center of suspicion in an indifferent world.”

Few filmmakers portray the Black American experience with so much heart and so little finesse as Tyler Perry. Doesn’t matter if his movies aren’t art — they reach an audience whether they’re comedies (his Madea movies),

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.