What Happens to Janiyah — and Is Her Daughter Dead?

Tyler Perry’s Straw keeps audiences waiting with bated breath until the very last minute — when a bombshell reveal changes the entire course of the movie.

The Netflix thriller, which was released on June 6, stars Taraji P. Henson as Janiyah, a single mother struggling to provide for her sick daughter, Aria (Gabby Jackson). After losing her job and her home, Janiyah becomes desperate to get the medicine Aria needs.

In a shocking moment, Janiyah goes to the bank with the intention of trying to cash a check but instead finds herself carrying a gun and holding people hostage.

As the film unfolds, Janiyah receives support from the bank manager, Nicole (Sherri Shepherd) and Detective Raymond (Teyana Taylor), who both listen to her struggles and try to de-escalate the situation. However, Janiyah must ultimately face hard truths as she figures out how to end the hostage negotiations. In true Perry fashion, the film also includes a shocking twist at the end.

“Janiyah did scare me a lot…,” Henson told PEOPLE ahead of the movie’s release. “I was drawn to this character because I love giving a voice to the voiceless. I want anybody out there who identifies with Janiyah to know that they’re not alone and you are seeing and I see you.”

So what happens to Janiyah and her daughter? Here’s the Straw ending, explained.

Warning: Straw spoilers ahead!

How does Straw end?

Janiyah is a single mother trying to care for her ill daughter, Aria, but as the expenses from the medical bills add up, she finds herself struggling to get Aria the care she needs. The film follows her on the worst day of her life as she gets fired, evicted and robbed at gunpoint.

After she’s framed for the robbery, Janiyah heads to a bank to cash a check she needs to buy medicine for her daughter. However, she forgets she doesn’t have her ID and is unable to get the money.

On her last straw, she pulls out the gun from the robbery. The bank manager, Nicole, silently alerts authorities and before she knows it, Janiyah has found herself in charge of a hostage negotiation.

The lead investigator, Detective Raymond, finds herself sympathetic to Janiyah and encourages her to turn herself in. At the end, Janiyah eventually frees all the hostages in the bank.

Just before she is about to surrender herself outside the bank, Janiyah gets a call from her mother, who informs her that her daughter had died the night before from a seizure. Janiyah then gets flashbacks showing how she was with Aria at the hospital when she died, but became so grief-stricken and traumatized that she automatically proceeded with her life as if nothing had happened.

The movie then cuts to a scene showing the police breaking in and storming the bank to shoot and kill Janiyah. However, it turns out that it was only a hypothetical situation. In reality, Janiyah lets Nicole take her out of the bank and peacefully puts her hands up to get arrested.

What happens to Janiyah?

Although the film initially ends with the police storming the bank and killing Janiyah, she actually comes to terms with her situation before they get that opportunity. After remembering the truth about her daughter, Janiyah seems to finally understand her reality and the gravity of her situation, and surrenders herself to the police.

The final scene shows police handcuffing Janiyah while she looks out at supporters chanting “Free Janiyah!” as she gets into the cop car.

Henson previously revealed that Perry originally wrote the script with Janiyah dying and Aria surviving, but he decided to switch the roles.

“Then [Perry] said, ‘I can’t do that to her, and the audience, because this will just kill them,’ ” Henson told Decider ahead of the movie’s release. “So that’s why he ended it the way he did, which I thought was great.”

Is Aria dead?

Throughout the film, Janiyah goes on with her day as she normally would to help provide for her daughter. She’s seen waking up with Aria, dropping her off at school and even getting a call from the school principal about potentially calling child services over bruises found on Aria’s body.

However, after she receives a call from her mother informing her of Aria’s death the previous night, Janiyah reflects on the day and realizes that she was actually alone.

In flashbacks, she realizes that the principal of Aria’s school was confused when Janiyah showed up at the premises, and called her later that day about overdue bills, not because of a threat from child services. The moment allows Janiyah to snap back to reality so she can safely turn herself in to the police surrounding the bank.

What happens to Nicole and Detective Raymond?

Although Nicole was the bank manager who called the police and alerted them that Janiyah had a gun and potentially a bomb, she quickly becomes sympathetic toward her situation. After Janiyah allows all the hostages to flee the bank, Nicole willingly stays to ensure that she safely surrenders herself to the police.

Later, Janiyah learns that Nicole knew all along that her daughter was dead after police informed her that Janiyah was in the midst of a breakdown.

Nicole uses this information to successfully convince Janiyah to turn herself in. One of the final moments shows the two exiting the bank while holding hands and raising them up to surrender. Before Janiyah gets escorted away, she thanks Nicole for saving her life.

Meanwhile, Janiyah also finds support from Raymond, who seems to understand Janiyah’s mental state and the consequent actions that spiraled out of control. The two women connect, and Raymond listens to what Janiyah needs before surrendering.

At one point, Janiyah learns that a police officer who previously threatened her life was present at the hostage scene, so she’s scared to leave. Raymond works to identify the officer, but by that point, the FBI is involved and takes over.

Despite Raymond no longer being in charge, she breaks the rules and approaches the bank with a photo of the officer whom she believes was the one threatening Janiyah’s life. Janiyah confirms that it was the correct man, so Raymond assures her that he’s no longer at the scene.

The movie closes with Raymond putting Janiyah in the back of a police car, as she willingly surrenders.