15/06/2025
I was in tears 😭 many times while watching this.
This movie is such a must-watch.
Straw didn’t just tell a story. It held up a mirror to the parts of ourselves we often keep quiet. I finished it feeling like my heart had been cracked open and gently handed back to me. It’s raw. It’s painful. But it’s real. And here are just some of the life realizations that hit me the hardest:
Disclaimer: Contains spoilers. Read at your own risk.
1️⃣ People can be drowning while still showing up.
Watching Janiyah go through her day, fighting battles no one saw, hit too close to home. It reminded me how often we say “I’m fine” when we’re anything but. Just because someone’s functioning doesn’t mean they’re okay. We really never know the weight someone’s carrying.
2️⃣Grief doesn’t always scream. Sometimes, it pretends everything’s normal.
That twist with Aria wrecked me. The way Janiyah kept seeing her, talking to her, fighting for her, only to realize she was already gone… It made me think of how we carry our losses. How denial can sometimes feel like the only way to survive one more day.
3️⃣Being strong all the time isn’t brave. It’s exhausting.
Society keeps telling women, especially moms, to “keep it together” no matter what. But strength without rest, without help, without kindness, turns into a cage. Watching Janiyah crumble made me realize that falling apart doesn’t make you weak. It makes you human.
4️⃣One small push can break someone who’s already on the edge.
We always think people just “snap,” but it’s rarely one thing. It’s the bills, the health scares, the eviction notice, the judgment, the constant fear. Straw reminded me to be gentler with strangers, with loved ones, even with myself. You never know how close someone is to their breaking point.
5️⃣Sometimes, people don’t want answers. They just need to be heard.
The way Nicole and the detective chose to listen instead of overpowering Janiyah changed everything. Sometimes the most healing thing we can offer isn’t advice. It’s presence.
6️⃣Just because the world doesn’t see your pain doesn’t mean it’s not real.
Janiyah’s suffering was invisible until it exploded. And it made me think about all the times I’ve felt like I had to “prove” I was struggling. But pain doesn’t need to be loud to be valid. And neither do we.
7️⃣There’s a quiet kind of love in not giving up on people.
The ending, the crowd, the kindness, the moment of surrender, it made me cry. Because sometimes what saves us isn’t a miracle. It’s someone staying beside us when we feel least deserving. It’s empathy. It’s softness. And God, in this hard world, that softness is everything.