A few days ago, I wrote about asking for help when the going gets tough. Yesterday, I wrote about some of the challenges in special needs children. I also touched on the importance of researching the health history of the family of a potential mate before procreating.

So today I watched STRAW, which sort of summed up both posts written in the last two days. Kindly note that this is a spoiler.

TRAILER

THE PLOT

Janiyah was a single mother of a special needs child. She works two jobs, but given her daughter's medical condition with asthma and seizures, she was barely making ends meet, especially since she's not covered by insurance.

Trouble started the day she expected her paycheck and her daughter Aria informed her of being teased at school because she couldn't afford lunch. After being informed that the lunch was $40, Janiyah promised to bring it to her at school after collecting her paycheck.

In the same day, her landlady informed her of her rent being due, which she also promised to pay back during her lunch break, as she was sure she would be getting paid at work that day.

At the supermarket where she worked, she was working when she got an urgent call from her daughter's school. As much as her manager didn't want to allow her to leave for her daughter's school, he reluctantly granted her 30 minutes, which was barely enough. Janiyah was desperate, and before dashing out, she requested her paycheck, but she was denied it by her manager.

Not having other options, she tried her bank, but she barely had enough funds in her account balance to withdraw the $40 from. Frustrated, she rushed to her daughter's school, where she saw child services take her daughter away on account of neglect.

It was such a trying time for Janiyah, and as she drove back to work in the rain, she got in trouble with the police. She almost caused an accident, and her car was impounded. Given how much she's been through, she got back to work 2 hours late and was sacked with a promise that her check will be sent in the mail.

On getting home, Janiyah met her belongings and those of her daughter outside under the rain, and her frustration knew no bounds as her sorrow grew. After gathering a few of the important belongings in a backpack, she went straight to her ex-manager, who was sorting out some money at his office, to demand her check.

While she went back and forth with the manager, they were soon ambushed by two armed robbers, and the situation escalated quickly as, in a bid to not surrender her backpack to the armed robbers, she overpowered one and shot him dead, causing the other one to run.

Her manager accused her of plotting with the armed robbers to rob him, and as he dialed 911, Janiyah panicked and shot him dead too. She left with only her blood-stained check, hoping to cash it in the bank, but was denied that too, as she didn't have an ID card. Janiyah panicked again and brought out the gun.

What started as a supposedly peaceful day for Jayniah soon turned into a nightmare as she got entangled with not just the police but also the FBI.

In the end, it was a crazy plot twist as it turned out that all efforts to cash her paycheck were a total waste. Apparently, her daughter whom she desperately needed the money for was already dead the previous night from seizures. Apparently, Jayniah was only living in denial.

MY THOUGHTS

Like every one of Tyler Perry's movies, this is emotionally heart-wrenching. Although there are some loopholes, like the robbery scene, it's relatively good acting, and I'd rate it a 6/10.

While it captures the struggles of single parenting and the rigors of tending to a special needs child, my moment in the movie was when the Janiyah character felt seen. I have always opined that money is good, but having people stand by you at your lowest moment is better.

Sometimes one might have all the money in the world, but without a strong support system, it's almost as good as nothing.

Basically, in certain life challenges, the value of connection sometimes outweighs money. And what's more valuable than receiving that love an individual seeks even when they feel that they are not deserving of it?

Taraji played the Janiyah character perfectly, as she shows raw emotions and the strong connection between mother and child.

You can't begin to imagine how much a mother can be attached to her child, so much so that even death could not separate her from the reality that she has built around her child.

Janiyah's struggles were felt; probably it could have been much easier if she was coparenting. Maybe it won't have been so hard if the child wasn't a special needs one. Probably she could have saved herself from all that torture if she had just listened to the doctor and gotten rid of the baby when the complications were detected during her pregnancy.

So many probablies, and as I watched the movie, I kept saying to myself, It doesn't have to be this hard, but then again, that's life. We all have choices that, in the end, we shall live with the consequences of. Hopefully when the going gets tough, we would have people holding our hands and guiding us through.

All images were screenshot from the movie. Trailer was gotten from YouTube.