Janiyah Wiltkinson wakes in an aging apartment building to a small, cramped routine. She bathes her school-aged daughter, Aria, whose health problems force Janiyah to wash and dress her each morning. As Janiyah dries Aria, she holds up a cardboard science project and warns her not to touch it; Aria protests that she cannot bathe herself and complains that her teacher said they could not afford school lunches. Janiyah hesitates, brushes a stray curl from Aria's forehead, pockets a few coins and steps into the hallway to give change to Benny, a neighbor who uses a wheelchair. When Janiyah returns, her landlord stands in the doorway and demands rent by ten o'clock, threatening eviction if she does not have the money.

Janiyah drives Aria to school and notices the principal give them a strange, uncomfortable look as they enter the building, but she pushes the unease aside to get to her shift at a neighborhood grocery store. On the sales floor, a customer storms over when Janiyah refuses to process WIC payment for items the program does not cover; the customer hurls a glass bottle at her, and it shatters near the register. Her store manager, Richard, barks orders for cleanup, refuses to release her paycheck, and refuses to let her leave the store, scolding her for what he calls repeated excuses. A co-worker slips a few bills to Janiyah in the back room, but she declines the charity.

While she stocks shelves, Janiyah's phone rings. The caller says Aria suffered a seizure in the bathtub and needs her immediately. Janiyah pleads with Richard to let her go; he snarls that she has thirty minutes to resolve her problems and returns to supervising the staff, telling her she will be fired if she leaves without permission and refusing to give her the check she requests for her daughter. Janiyah races to a bank to withdraw cash for lunch, but a slow-moving line and a malfunctioning ATM keep her waiting.

She finally makes it to the school only to find the principal and a worker from Child Protective Services on campus. They accuse her of neglect and remove Aria from her custody, telling Janiyah the child needs medical attention. Janiyah kneels and begs them to let her keep Aria's medication, to let her explain the seizure, but staff members escort Aria away. Janiyah's protests intensify as they walk off; the principal tells her they will contact her about next steps and leaves. Janiyah is left on the sidewalk, frantic and frantic enough to beg onlookers to help.

Rain slicks the roads as Janiyah drives back toward work with her head full of fear and anger. She cuts off a car occupied by an off-duty police officer, who responds by throwing a drink at her and forcing her off the road. When uniformed officers arrive after a witness calls, they search her vehicle paperwork and discover she has expired registration or inspection; they impound the car and leave her standing in the rain. She returns to the store on foot and confronts Richard. He fires her, still withholding the paycheck. When Janiyah goes home, she finds her door open and her few belongings tossed into a pile on the stoop; the landlord has evicted her for nonpayment.

Driven by a mixture of desperation and resolve, Janiyah goes back to the grocery store to demand the wages she earned. As she confronts Richard inside, two armed men burst in and begin a robbery. One of the robbers addresses Janiyah by name--he has read her name tag--and tells everyone to get down and hand over valuables. One robber grabs at a backpack lying on the counter and asks about its contents, demanding Aria's bag in particular. Janiyah refuses to give it up. In the scuffle that follows, a robber strikes at her, and she manages to grab a gun from the assailant. The struggle becomes violent and tangled; Janiyah fires the weapon and the robber she has wrestled with collapses, dead. The other robber flees through the back exit with the register's contents. Richard, bleeding and in shock, accuses Janiyah of planning the robbery, shouting that she set this up because everyone knows her name. He turns and calls the police, sneering that she will be the kind of parent who ends up in prison. Janiyah, seeing no other way to stop his cruelty, raises the firearm and shoots Richard, killing him. She snatches her withheld paycheck from the manager's desk and flees the store before sirens reach the block.

At a nearby bank, Janiyah tries to cash the paycheck but cannot produce the identification the teller requests. She slams the stub down and becomes increasingly agitated. When the teller refuses to process the check without valid ID, Janiyah pulls the handgun and forces the transaction. The teller complies while another employee, Tessa, discreetly triggers a silent alarm. A bank manager, Nicole, recognizes Janiyah and crosses the floor to de-escalate. Cameras record the scene; one teller takes out a phone and begins a covert livestream, broadcasting the standoff. News of the robbery spreads quickly on social media, and outside the bank, a crowd begins to gather, their anger swelling into chants demanding that authorities "free Janiyah."

Detectives Kay Raymond and Grimes arrive at the bank and take charge of the response. Raymond, an ex-Army negotiator, takes a phone that Nicole holds out and begins speaking directly to Janiyah. He uses a measured voice to calm her, asking about her needs and reminding her that they can work through this together if she cooperates. Nicole stays close to Janiyah, offering soft reassurances and speaking in low tones that Janiyah only half hears. Inside, Janiyah spots Aria's backpack on the floor beside her and panics when the crowd outside and the officers over the radio misinterpret a science project inside the bag as an explosive device. Janiyah opens the backpack and sees the project--wires taped to a battery and a papier-mâché housing--and, terrified by what police might do, she tells Nicole to call Detective Raymond and get him to understand that the item is not a bomb. Nicole hesitates, telling Janiyah that the perceived threat is what is keeping police from making a catastrophic mistake, and in a hands-on effort to regain control, she and Janiyah disable the bank's security cameras so nobody can broadcast more footage.

Tessa, the teller who triggered the silent alarm, scrawls a message on a bathroom-window mirror and then on a restroom glass partition: the object in the backpack is a science project, not an explosive. She slides the message where Janiyah can see it. Meanwhile, the livestream gains traction; viewers see the exhausted woman protecting the bag and argue online that she deserves support. Protesters and neighbors gather in the street and, egged on by what they watch, shout and brandish signs sympathetic to Janiyah's plight.

Raymond tells Grimes to locate the off-duty officer who earlier accosted Janiyah after she cut him off in traffic. They identify him through dispatch records and question him at the scene. Raymond confronts the officer for having thrown a drink at Janiyah and forcing her off the road, and he has the officer detained for his on-camera misconduct. Even so, the FBI insists on imposing a strict no-contact protocol; they refuse to let Raymond allow Janiyah to meet the detained officer in person. Raymond, seeking to bridge the gap, obtains a photograph and brings it to Nicole so she can show it to Janiyah and confirm the man's identity. When Nicole presents the image, Janiyah studies it and says it is the same man who harassed her. Hearing that confirmation, she begins to release hostages and to lower the gun.

Just as the negotiation appears to be resolving, Janiyah receives a phone call from her mother. Her mother speaks in a trembling voice and tells Janiyah that Aria died during a seizure the previous night. The sound of the words hits Janiyah like a blow. The film cuts into brief, intense flashbacks: Aria seizing in the tub at night, Janiyah's frantic attempts to rouse her and call for help, a final, quiet image of Janiyah holding her child as paramedics work. The flashbacks reveal that the phone call from the school earlier in the day, the confrontation with Child Protective Services, and the handful of times Aria appears beside Janiyah during the day were not real interventions but hallucinations experienced by Janiyah. In the bank, she feels the solidity of Aria's small hand for one long beat, then the hand is gone. Nicole, who has remained with Janiyah despite knowing the truth, whispers to her and steadies her when she staggers. Tessa's note that the item is a science project underscores the unreality of Janiyah's attempts to protect a child who is no longer alive in the present.

Outside, the FBI signals a tactical response. Officers take positions, and tear gas canisters are prepared to breach. Raymond pleads for Janiyah to let go of the gun and come out with him; he promises to walk with her, to keep her safe and to make sure she receives help. As the tactical team moves forward, gas canisters arc through the bank's windows and canisters hiss and foam fills the air. Inside, in a sudden and hallucinatory sequence, Janiyah imagines being shot by a uniformed agent--she stumbles, feels heat and fingernails tear at her sleeves, and sees red bloom in her peripheral vision. The cut between perception and reality snaps when Raymond calls out her name, guides her by the arm and mirrors her breath. She does not bleed. She does not collapse. Surrounded by law enforcement officers, Janiyah lets go of the firearm and places her hands on her head.

Detectives handcuff her gently and read her rights as Nicole stands by Janiyah's side. The bank manager's face is tight, relieved and sorrowful at once. Officers escort Janiyah out of the building into a scene of noisy cameras, shouting protesters and flashing lights. They place her in a police vehicle; Raymond speaks to her in a low voice about getting treatment and about answering questions. Nicole watches until the squad car door closes and then turns to face the crowd and the cameras.

Ambulance crews and child welfare investigators step back behind the bank after Janiyah's surrender. Investigators catalog the evidence: the deceased robber's body in the store, Richard's body where he fell inside the grocery, the emptied register and the discarded backpack in the bank. The off-duty officer who forced Janiyah off the road is in custody for his conduct, and the other robber remains at large, his description circulated to nearby jurisdictions. Inside the bank, Tessa's livestream continues to be shared, and social media threads debate the day's events, focusing on the images of Janiyah clutching the small science project. In a quiet, final frame, Janiyah sits in the back of the police vehicle, trembling and exhausted, and a detective closes the rear door while Nicole watches from the sidewalk, her hands folded as rain wets the pavement. The narrative closes on the image of Janiyah taken into custody under a protective escort, with Detective Raymond watching and with Nicole remaining at her side as the next steps -- legal processing, medical evaluation and further investigation -- begin.

At the end of Straw (2025), Janiyah surrenders peacefully to Detective Raymond after a tense bank hostage situation, revealing that much of what appeared to happen--including the presence of her daughter Aria and the violence--was hallucination. Aria had actually died the night before, and Nicole, a friend, stayed with Janiyah to protect her. The FBI storming and shooting scenes were also hallucinations, and Janiyah's surrender marks a quiet resolution to her ordeal.

The ending unfolds in a series of intense, emotionally charged scenes:

Janiyah, a single mother, finds herself in a bank holding up the place unintentionally after a series of tragic events throughout her day. She is desperate and pleading for help regarding her daughter Aria. During the standoff, Raymond, a former Army negotiator, builds a rapport with Janiyah over the phone, trying to calm her and understand her situation. Meanwhile, a bank teller named Tessa secretly writes a note on a bathroom window revealing that the supposed bomb Janiyah claims to have is actually Aria's science project, indicating that the threat is not real.

Nicole, Janiyah's friend, disables the bank's cameras to protect her. Raymond confronts and punches the officer who harassed Janiyah earlier, demanding the FBI allow him to speak directly to her. When the FBI refuses, Raymond personally delivers a photo of the officer to Janiyah through Nicole. Recognizing the officer, Janiyah releases the hostages, but Nicole remains with her.

At this point, Janiyah receives a phone call from her mother, Delores, who delivers the devastating news that Aria died the previous night from a seizure. A flashback reveals that Aria's presence throughout the day was a hallucination--Janiyah had been imagining her daughter's presence, and the school and Child Protective Services had never contacted her. Nicole, aware of Aria's death, stayed with Janiyah to protect her from herself and the escalating situation.

As the FBI prepares to storm the bank, tear gas is fired, and Janiyah appears to be shot. However, this is another hallucination. In reality, Janiyah quietly and peacefully surrenders to Detective Raymond, with Nicole by her side. This marks the end of the crisis and the film.

Fates of main characters at the end:

• Janiyah: Surrenders peacefully, her mental state fragile due to grief and trauma, but alive and in custody.
• Nicole: Remains by Janiyah's side, acting as her protector and support.
• Detective Raymond: Successfully negotiates Janiyah's surrender and helps expose the abusive officer.
• Aria: Revealed to have died the night before, her presence during the film was a hallucination.

This ending reveals the psychological depth of Janiyah's experience and the tragic reality behind the chaos she endures.

The movie STRAW (2025) does not have a traditional post-credit scene. Instead, the film ends with a powerful and ambiguous conclusion centered on the protagonist Janiyah's mental state and the reality of her situation. After a tense standoff at a bank, where Janiyah is believed to be holding it hostage, she is actually peacefully escorted out. She sees a supportive crowd outside, but it is left unclear whether this is real or another hallucination, reflecting her deep grief and dissociation following the death of her daughter Aria.

The ending itself serves as a final emotional and psychological moment rather than a separate post-credit scene. There is no indication from available sources that STRAW includes an additional scene after the credits roll. The film's conclusion is designed to leave viewers contemplating the blurred lines between reality and Janiyah's hallucinations, with no extra narrative content beyond the main ending.

Janiyah accidentally finds herself holding up the bank after she tries to cash a check and is spotted with a gun, which she obtained during a struggle with robbers at her workplace where she fatally shoots one robber and then kills her boss before fleeing with her paycheck.

Nicole is a character who stays with Janiyah during the bank hostage situation, aware that Aria, Janiyah's daughter, had died the previous night. Nicole disables the bank's cameras and helps protect Janiyah from herself and the situation.

Aria is Janiyah's daughter who had died the night before the bank incident due to a seizure. Throughout the day, Aria's presence is revealed to be a hallucination experienced by Janiyah, which is a key twist in the story.

Raymond, a former Army negotiator, offers to speak with Janiyah over the phone and builds rapport with her. He empathizes with her, identifies the threatening officer involved, and has him apprehended. He also personally delivers a photo of the officer to Janiyah to help resolve the situation.

The threatening officer who harasses Janiyah is identified by Raymond and subsequently apprehended. Raymond demands the FBI allow Janiyah to talk to him, but when they refuse, he delivers a photo of the officer to Janiyah, who confirms his identity, leading to the release of the hostages.

The movie STRAW (2025) is not family friendly and is rated TV-MA, intended for mature audiences only. It contains strong language, intense emotional distress, mature thematic content, and infrequent but strong violence. The film deals with heavy and realistic social issues, including systemic injustice, mental health struggles, and family hardship, which can be upsetting or triggering for children and sensitive viewers.

Potentially objectionable or upsetting aspects include:

• Strong and frequent foul language (over 100 obscenities)
• Intense emotional distress portrayed through a mother's desperate situation
• Scenes of violence and confrontation, including a bank robbery scenario
• Themes of poverty, eviction threats, and systemic barriers
• Realistic depiction of family struggles and mental health challenges

Because of these elements, STRAW is not suitable for children or pre-teens and should be approached with caution for older teens, ideally with parental guidance and emotional support available.