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Movies like STRAW

Key Features:
Single mother, Breaking point, Desperation, Social issues, Economic hardship, Moral dilemma, Crime, Violence-moderate
Tone:
serious, dramatic
Target Audience:
Social issue drama viewers, Independent film enthusiasts
Emotional Arc:
Stress → Desperation → Shock

STRAW

2025-06-05
STRAW Poster - Find Similar Movies

What will be her last straw? A devastatingly bad day pushes a hardworking single mother to the breaking point — and into a shocking act of desperation.

Genres
Thriller, Drama, Crime
Cast
Taraji P. Henson, Sherri Shepherd, Teyana Taylor, Sinbad, Rockmond Dunbar, Ashley Versher, Mike Merrill, Glynn Turman, Shalèt Monique, Diva Tyler
Crew
Tyler Perry, Tyler Perry
Rating
7.812(868 votes)
STRAWSTRAW
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Last Straw
6.13

A rural roadside diner becomes the host of a maniacal killing spree – leaving a young waitress to clean up the mess. After hard-headed Nancy fires the staff at her dad’s diner, she decides to cover the last shift of the night by herself. Little does she know, she is far from alone. The day is coming back to haunt her and when things begin to spiral out of control, she must fight for her life over the course of one long night.



Set It Off
7.2

Four inner-city Black women, determined to end their constant struggle, decide to live by one rule — get what you want or die trying. So the four women take back their lives and take out some banks in the process.



Breaking
Breaking(2022)
6.5

Desperate for money and running out of options, Marine veteran Brian Brown-Easley holds several people hostage inside a bank, setting the stage for a tense confrontation with police.



Kidnap
Kidnap(2017)
6.236

A mother (in her Minivan) stops at nothing to recover her kidnapped son.



Arizona
Arizona(2018)
5.46

Set in the midst of the 2009 housing crisis, the life of Cassie Fowler, a single mother and struggling realtor, goes off the rails when she witnesses a murder.



The Single Moms Club
5.991

A group of single moms are brought together in the aftermath of an incident at their children's school.



Tyler Perry's Divorce in the Black

Ava, a young bank professional is devastated when her husband Dallas abandons a marriage she is determined to fight for until fate intervenes, revealing Dallas' wicked deeds that have trashed their marriage, and once upon a time sabotaged Ava's destiny to be loved by her true soulmate.



Choke
Choke(2008)
6.1

A sex-addicted con-man pays for his mother's hospital bills by playing on the sympathies of those who rescue him from choking to death.



Rattlesnake
5.251

After a mysterious woman saves her daughter from a deadly snakebite, a single mother must repay the debt by killing a stranger before sundown.



Heist
Heist(2015)
6.142

A father is without the means to pay for his daughter's medical treatment. As a last resort, he partners with a greedy co-worker to rob a casino. When things go awry they're forced to hijack a city bus.



Baby Boy
Baby Boy(2001)
7.11

The story of Jody, a misguided, 20-year-old African-American who is really just a baby boy finally forced-kicking and screaming to face the commitments of real life. Streetwise and jobless, he has not only fathered two children by two different women-Yvette and Peanut but still lives with his own mother. He can't seem to strike a balance or find direction in his chaotic life.



Carjacked
Carjacked(2011)
5.165

A single mom and her child are carjacked by a bank robber who has no intention of letting them go.



Tallulah
Tallulah(2016)
6.7

Desperate to be rid of her toddler, a dissatisfied Beverly Hills housewife hires a stranger to babysit and ends up getting much more than she bargained for.



Emily the Criminal
6.7

Desperate for income, Emily takes a shady gig buying goods with stolen credit cards supplied by a charismatic middleman named Youcef. Seduced by the quick cash and illicit thrills, they hatch a plan to take their business to the next level.



MOTHER
MOTHER(2020)
6.995

Shuhei is leading a tough life. His alcoholic mother Akiko can only hook up with bad guys and order Shuhei to go get money from his disapproving grandparents instead of going to school. Except raising the little half-sister, his rock-bottom life seems to have no end.



The Players Club
6.256

Single mother Diana struggles to provide for her child and pay for her college education. When she meets two dancers from a nearby gentlemen's club, Diana's convinced there's fast money to be made stripping.



Acrimony
Acrimony(2018)
6.723

Faithful wife Melinda, who is tired of standing by her devious husband Robert, is enraged when it becomes clear she has been betrayed. That's when she lost it, and now she cannot let it go.



The Desperate Hour

A woman desperately races to save her child after police place her hometown on lockdown due to an active shooter incident.



6ixtynin9
6ixtynin9(1999)
6.76

A woman, fired from a financial corporation during the Asia crisis, returns home with no money. However, she finds a box with a fortune in front of her door, and decides to keep it. However, the people that left it there soon want it back.



Erin Brockovich
7.435

A twice-divorced mother of three who sees an injustice, takes on the bad guy and wins -- with a little help from her push-up bra. Erin goes to work for an attorney and comes across medical records describing illnesses clustered in one nearby town. She starts investigating and soon exposes a monumental cover-up.



The Breaking Point
7.1

A fisherman with money problems hires out his boat to transport criminals.



Rosetta
Rosetta(1999)
7.171

Young, impulsive Rosetta lives a hard and stressful life as she struggles to support herself and her alcoholic mother. Refusing all charity, she is desperate to maintain a dignified job.



Mother
Mother(2017)
6.913

An everyday conversation between Marta and her mother turns into a tragic race against the clock when Marta receives a phone call from Iván, her six-year-old son, who is on holiday in France with his father.



The Deep End
6.2

With her husband Jack perpetually away at work, Margaret Hall raises her children virtually alone. Her teenage son is testing the waters of the adult world, and early one morning she wakes to find the dead body of his gay lover on the beach of their rural lakeside home. What would you do? What is rational and what do you do to protect your child? How far do you go and when do you stop?



Beasts Clawing at Straws

A struggling restaurant owner, caring for his sick mom, finds a bag of cash in a sauna locker, while a customs officer gets into trouble when his girlfriend runs off with money he borrowed from a loan shark.



Madea Goes to Jail
6.5

After a high-speed car chase, Madea winds up behind bars because her quick temper gets the best of her. Meanwhile, Assistant District Attorney Josh Hardaway lands a case that's too personal to handle: that of a young prostitute and former drug addict named Candace, also a childhood friend. When Candace winds up in jail, Madea takes the young woman under her protective wing.



Unhinged
Unhinged(2020)
6.4

Rachel is a divorced single mother whose bad day gets even worse. She's running late to drop her son off at school when she honks her horn impatiently at a fellow driver during rush-hour traffic. After an exchange of words, she soon realizes that the mysterious man is following her and her young son in his truck. A case of road rage quickly escalates, at horrifyingly psychotic proportions, into full-blown terror as Rachel discovers the psychopath's sinister plan for revenge. He is single-mindedly determined to teach her a deadly lesson.



She-Devil
She-Devil(1989)
6

A cunning and resourceful housewife vows revenge on her husband when he begins an affair with a wealthy romance novelist.



13 Sins
13 Sins(2014)
6.3

Drowning in debt as he's about to get married, a bright but meek salesman receives a mysterious phone call informing him that he's on a hidden-camera game show where he must execute 13 tasks to receive a multi-million dollar cash prize.



Where Is Kyra?
5.55

Pushed to the brink after losing her job, a woman struggles to survive. As the months pass and her troubles deepen, she embarks on a perilous and mysterious journey that threatens to usurp her life.



Lucky
Lucky(2017)
6.4

The story of a young mother with a failed marriage behind her, who fights daily for her dream to open a hair salon, challenging her fate in an effort to free herself and gain independence and right to happiness.



Cheap Thrills
6.4

Recently fired and facing eviction, a new dad has his life turned upside down when he meets a wealthy couple who offer a path to financial security... but at a price.



Now or Never
6.1

As a mother, in principle, you do not rob banks. But these days, it can be a solution for the future of your home, and not to give up on your dreams. Playing the thieves can quickly become dangerous and bad encounters can turn into a love story ...



Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys

Wealthy socialite Charlotte Cartwright and her dear friend Alice Pratt, a working class woman of high ideals, have enjoyed a lasting friendship throughout several decades. Recently, their lives have become mired in turmoil as their adult children’s extramarital affairs, unethical business practices, and a dark secret threaten to derail family fortunes and unravel the lives of all involved. Charlotte and Alice decide to take a breather from it all by making a cross-country road trip in which they rediscover themselves and possibly find a way to save their families from ruin.



Her Story
Her Story(2024)
7.534

Wang Tiemei, a single mother, loses her job and moves, befriending neighbor Xiaoye who appears cheerful but is depressed. Their bond grows as Tiemei navigates relationships with her ex-husband causing trouble.



Rupture
Rupture(2016)
4.889

A single mom tries to break free from a mysterious organization that has abducted her.



The Gateway
5.3

A social worker assigned to the care of the daughter of a single mother intervenes when the dad returns from prison and lures them into a life of crime.



Mother India
7.09

A poverty-stricken woman raises her sons through many trials and tribulations. But no matter the struggles, always sticks to her own moral code.



Mommy
Mommy(2014)
8.2

A peculiar neighbor offers hope to a recent widow who is struggling to raise a teenager who is unpredictable and, sometimes, violent.



Salvage
Salvage(2009)
4.91

When a container washes ashore the residents of a sleepy cul-de-sac are plunged into violence, terror and paranoia. Ring fenced by the military a single mother must overcome all the odds to save her daughter.



Full Time
Full Time(2022)
7.028

Julie finally gets an interview for a job where she can raise her children better only to run into a national transit strike.



Custody
Custody(2016)
6.9

When a hard-working single mother, Sara Diaz, has her children taken from her after she is suspected of injuring her son, Ally Fisher, a recent law school graduate, is assigned to represent her case before Judge Martha Schulman, a veteran of the Family Court System.



Mom and Dad
5.402

In a suburban community, moms and dads, one after the other, mysteriously feel the irresistible impulse to attack and kill their own offspring.



End of the Road
6

Recently widowed mom Brenda fights to protect her family during a harrowing road trip when a murder and a missing bag of cash plunge them into danger.



Wasp
Wasp(2003)
7.193

Zoë is a single mother who lives with her four children in Dartford. She is poor and can't afford to buy food. One day her old flame drives by and asks her to go on a date with him. Scared that he doesn't want to go out with her, she lies and tells him that she is just babysitting the kids. This will be her first date in years.



I Can Do Bad All By Myself

When Madea catches teenage Jennifer and her two younger brothers looting her home, she decides to take matters into her own hands and delivers the young delinquents to the only relative they have: their aunt April. A heavy-drinking nightclub singer who lives off of her married boyfriend, April wants nothing to do with the kids.



A Single Shot
5.7

The tragic death of a beautiful young girl starts a tense and atmospheric game of cat and mouse between hunter John Moon and the hardened backwater criminals out for his blood.



Mom
Mom(2017)
7.539

After her stepdaughter is sexually assaulted at a party, a furious mother sets out to destroy the lives of the four perpetrators who walked free.



The Ledge
The Ledge(2011)
6.2

A thriller in which a battle of philosophies between a fundamentalist Christian and an atheist escalates into a lethal battle of wills.



Ama
Ama(2021)
6.343

A portrait of the myth of maternity around the story of Pepa and her daughter, who are evicted from their home and forced to wander for a place to live with no support network.



Stepmom
Stepmom(1998)
7.2

Jackie is a divorced mother of two. Isabel is the career minded girlfriend of Jackie’s ex-husband Luke, forced into the role of unwelcome stepmother to their children. But when Jackie discovers she is ill, both women realise they must put aside their differences to find a common ground and celebrate life to the fullest, while they have the chance.



Daddy's Little Girls

Monty is a mechanic struggling to make ends meet as he raises his three young daughters. When the court awards custody of his daughters to his shady ex-wife, Monty desperately tries to win them back with the help of Julia, a beautiful, Ivy League-educated attorney. Monty and Julia couldn't be less alike, but a flame is ignited... touching off a firestorm of love and conflict.



Blood
Blood(2023)
6.413

Jess, a newly separated mother and nurse, moves into her old family farmhouse with Tyler, her teenage daughter, and Owen, her eight-year-old son. One night, the family dog senses something in the woods and runs off to find it. He returns a couple of days later and attacks Owen, savagely biting him before Jess is able to intervene. Owen is rushed to the hospital. His condition worsens, and no one can figure out why... until Jess discovers a disturbing cure...



Shield of Straw
6.387

Ninagawa is a powerful man in Japanese politics and with top economic connections.His granddaughter is then murdered. The suspect is Kunihide Kiyomaru. Kunihide Kiyomaru has a prior conviction for assaulting and killing a girl 8 years ago. The police could never apprehend the suspect in the prior killing.



Burn
Burn(2019)
6.048

Lonely, unstable gas station attendant Melinda is tired of being overshadowed by her more confident, outgoing co-worker Sheila. When the gas station is held up at gunpoint by Billy, a desperate man in need of quick cash, Melinda finds an opportunity to make a connection with the robber, regardless of who gets hurt.



Bullet
Bullet(1996)
6.2

A tough, Jewish ex-con just released from prison crosses a powerful drug dealer and former prison rival in his return to a life of crime.



Never Let Go
5.7

Former FBI agent, now single mother Lisa Brennan, takes a holiday to escape an unhappy love affair and painful family memories. But in a heartbeat, she is not only faced with a daughter kidnapped by human traffickers, but also faces murder charges and must keep one step ahead of the foreign police.



Shut In
Shut In(2022)
6.804

A young single mother is held captive along with her two children by a violent ex and must plot their escape before it’s too late.



Polyester
Polyester(1981)
7

Blessed with a keen sense of smell and cursed with a philandering pornographer husband, a parasitic mother, and a pair of delinquent children, the long-suffering Francine Fishpaw turns to the bottle as her life falls apart -- until deliverance appears in the form of a hunk named Todd Tomorrow. Originally screened with "Odorama" scratch and sniff cards so the audience could (at their own risk) smell along with the film.



No Good Deed
5.936

Terri is a devoted wife and mother of two, living an ideal suburban life in Atlanta when Colin, a charming but dangerous escaped convict, shows up at her door claiming car trouble. Terri offers her phone to help him but soon learns that no good deed goes unpunished as she finds herself fighting for survival when he invades her home and terrorizes her family.



Daisy Diamond
5.698

A tragic story about Anna who dreams of one thing only: making it as an actress. She moves from Sweden to Copenhagen to pursue her dream. But fate has something else in store for her. Though she struggles to give her 4-month-old daughter a good start in life, she ultimately fails to unite her dream of acting with a safe and loving environment for her child, culminating in a desperate act that has fatal consequences for Anna and her daughter.



Whore
Whore(1991)
5.2

This melodrama investigates the life of a sex worker, in a pseudo-documentary style.



Broken City
5.947

In a broken city rife with injustice, ex-cop Billy Taggart seeks redemption and revenge after being double-crossed and then framed by its most powerful figure, the mayor. Billy's relentless pursuit of justice, matched only by his streetwise toughness, makes him an unstoppable force - and the mayor's worst nightmare.



Coffee & Kareem
5.5

A Detroit cop reluctantly teams with his girlfriend's 11-year-old son to clear his name and take down the city's most ruthless criminal.



Grilled
Grilled(2006)
4.912

Maurice and Dave sell high-end cuts of beef, but after hitting a patch of no sales, they're facing being fired. Maurice needs money to enroll in his final semester of acupuncture school, and the recently-separated Dave needs money for his daughter's birthday gift. Their final client card—a beautiful woman—is attracted to Maurice, but a desperate call from a suicidal friend interrupts her signing the contract. Still hoping to close the sale, they offer to drive her to the friend's house—where their troubles multiply.



Pain Hustlers
6.652

After losing her job, a single mom falls into a lucrative but ultimately dangerous scheme selling prescription drugs.



Rabid Dogs
5.5

After a bank job goes badly wrong, three desperate criminals take a young woman and a father and child hostage - it's the beginning of a frantic and violent road trip that not all of them will survive.



Ransom
Ransom(1996)
6.7

When a rich man's son is kidnapped, he cooperates with the police at first but then tries a unique tactic against the criminals.



Phantom Halo
5.866

Two brothers barely scrape by as their father continues to gamble and drink away the money they do bring home. They hatch a plan for a robbery but at what price?



In Syria
In Syria(2017)
6.469

A mother attempts to keep her family safe as war rages and a sniper lies in wait outside her home.



Missing
Missing(2016)
6.9

A working single mother comes home one day to find that her daughter and the nanny have disappeared -- and this is just the beginning of her nightmare.



American Fable
6

When 11-year-old Gitty discovers that her father, Abe, a good and beloved farmer, is holding a wealthy man hostage in their abandoned silo in order to save their suffering farm, she befriends the captive in secret. As the truth unfolds about who he is and what will happen if he escapes, Gitty chooses to confront the thin line between reality and fiction.



Wanda
Wanda(1970)
6.8

After a string of abusive relationships, Wanda abandons her family and seeks solace in the company of a petty criminal.



Mother
Mother(2009)
7.7

A mother lives quietly with her son. One day, a girl is brutally killed, and the boy is charged with the murder. Now, it's his mother's mission to prove him innocent.



Jackie & Ryan
5.86

A modern day train hopper fighting to be a successful musician and a single mom battling to maintain custody of her daughter defy their circumstances by coming together in a relationship that may change each others lives forever.



Breathe
Breathe(2024)
5.671

Air-supply is scarce in the near future, forcing a mother and daughter to fight for survival when two strangers arrive desperate for an oxygenated haven.



Gridlock'd
6.7

After a friend overdoses, Spoon and Stretch decide to kick their drug habits and attempt to enroll in a government detox program. Their efforts are hampered by seemingly endless red tape, as they are shuffled from one office to another while being chased by drug dealers and the police.



Nowhere to Be Found

A mother's worst nightmare comes true when her teenage daughter goes missing.



Rushed
Rushed(2021)
6.7

Barbara O’Brien, an Irish Catholic mother, has her life turned upside-down when her son, a freshman in college, is involved in a tragic hazing incident. Taking justice into her own hands, she travels across the country recording mothers who have lost sons to hazing in an effort to prove the university’s liability. When she is confronted by corruption and cover ups, she seeks revenge on the one person she finds truly responsible, proving that hell hath no fury like a mother scorned.



Tully
Tully(2018)
6.8

Marlo, a mother of three, including a newborn, is gifted a night nanny by her brother. Hesitant at first, she quickly forms a bond with the thoughtful, surprising, and sometimes challenging nanny named Tully.



Free Ride
Free Ride(2013)
5.319

A single mom in the 1970s raises her two daughters and becomes involved in illegal drug trade to make a better life.



When the Bough Breaks
5.825

A surrogate mother harbors a deadly secret desire for a family of her own with the husband who is expecting to raise her child.



Striptease
5.6

Bounced from her job, Erin Grant needs money if she's to have any chance of winning back custody of her child. But, eventually, she must confront the naked truth: to take on the system, she'll have to take it all off. Erin strips to conquer, but she faces unintended circumstances when a hound dog of a Congressman zeroes in on her and sharpens the shady tools at his fingertips, including blackmail and murder.



Bad Moms
Bad Moms(2016)
6.493

When three overworked and under-appreciated moms are pushed beyond their limits, they ditch their conventional responsibilities for a jolt of long overdue freedom, fun, and comedic self-indulgence.



Mall
Mall(2014)
4.696

Malcom's done with his life. Only the noise of Crystal Meth gives him a reason to keep going - everything else it has long regardless. Equipped with a bag full of weapons and self-made bombs, he makes his way to the nearby mall to really stir things up. On his personal war campaign, he not only changes his life radically, but also the fate of other people who are in the wrong place at the same time: a teenager whose favorite pastime is smoking pot in his dreary existence, a housewife, where their best days have been left behind, a greedy businessman whose only desire is to increase his wealth and a depressed pervert.



Karen
Karen(2021)
4

A racist woman makes it her personal mission to displace the new black family that has just moved in next door to her, but they won't back down without a fight.



A Mouthful of Air
6.506

Julie is a new mom and children's book author, who escapes into the bright Crayola-colored world of her creation in order to leave behind the darkness caused by her post-partum depression.



Nightbitch
5.79

A woman, thrown into the stay-at-home routine of raising a toddler in the suburbs, slowly embraces the feral power deeply rooted in motherhood, as she becomes increasingly aware of the bizarre and undeniable signs that she may be turning into a dog.



Pink
Pink(2016)
7.4

A sexual assault victim, unjustly tried for the attempted murder of her attacker, is defended by a retired lawyer who challenges India's rape culture.



Storytelling
6.5

College and high school serve as the backdrop for two stories about dysfunction and personal turmoil.



Ida Red
Ida Red(2021)
5.718

Ida Red may not survive her 20-year prison sentence for armed robbery. She turns to her son, Wyatt, for one last job and a chance to regain her freedom.



Breakdown
Breakdown(1997)
6.907

On their cross-country drive, a married couple, Jeff and Amy Taylor, experience car trouble after their SUV breaks down. Stranded in the New Mexico desert, the two catch a break when a passing truck driver offers Amy a ride to a nearby café to call for help. Meanwhile, Jeff is able to fix the car and make his way to the café, but Amy isn't there. He tracks down the trucker ― who tells the police he's never seen Jeff or his wife before. Jeff then begins a desperate, frenzied search for Amy.



Herself
Herself(2020)
6.7

Struggling to provide her daughters with a safe, happy home, Sandra decides to build one - from scratch. Using all her ingenuity to make her ambitious dream a reality, Sandra draws together a community to lend a helping hand to build her house and ultimately recover her own sense of self.



Buffaloed
Buffaloed(2020)
6.7

Set in the underworld of debt-collecting, homegrown hustler Peg Dahl will do anything to escape Buffalo, NY.



Desperation Road
6.692

Ex-con Russell Gaines is attempting to rebuild his life with the help of his father, Mitchell. However, the arrival of Maben sends his new life into chaos, leading the pair to go on the run - as their violent pasts catch up to them, the pair must learn to trust each other if they hope to live out the rest of their days.



Silent Hill
6.604

Rose, a desperate mother takes her adopted daughter, Sharon, to the town of Silent Hill in an attempt to cure her of her ailment. After a violent car crash, Sharon disappears and Rose begins a desperate search to get her back. She descends into the center of the twisted reality of a town's terrible secret. Pursued by grotesquely deformed creatures and townspeople stuck in permanent purgatory, Rose begins to uncover the truth behind the apocalyptic disaster that burned the town 30 years earlier.



Zipper
Zipper(2015)
5.485

Sam Ellis is a man on the rise — a hot-shot federal prosecutor on the cusp of a bright political future. But what was meant to be a one-time experience with an escort turns into a growing addiction — a new demon threatening to destroy his life, family, and career.



Pawn
Pawn(2020)
8.433

A debt collector who looks intimidating, but actually has a warm heart, ends up becoming the guardian of a child, who has been left behind as collateral by her illegal immigrant mother.



Swallow
Swallow(2020)
6.6

Hunter, a newly pregnant housewife, finds herself increasingly compelled to consume dangerous objects. As her husband and his family tighten their control over her life, she must confront the dark secret behind her new obsession.

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