Protector, the new action film starring Milla Jovovich as a soldier who must rescue her kidnapped daughter from sex traffickers, is one of the most oddly structured thrillers in recent memory. Though the logline clearly establishes the film as a gender-swapped Taken — which you’d think would be a straightforward affair — Protector makes some bold plays in its storytelling, including the omission of a crucial event in its own narrative and a twisty ending that recontextualizes the entire movie.

Handled artfully, these decisions could have helped Protector stand out in a crowded, low-budget action movie field. Unfortunately, director Adrian Grünberg (Rambo: Last Blood, Get the Gringo), working from a script by Bong-Seob Mun, isn’t able to wrangle these elements well enough to put them to effective use. As a result, Protector ends up feeling too generic for most of its runtime before becoming baffling when it attempts to catch the viewer off guard in its closing scenes.

What Is ‘Protector’ About?

In Protector, Jovovich plays Nikki Halsted, a special-forces soldier who has largely missed out on her daughter Chloe’s (Isabel Myers) life because she’s been busy serving her country overseas. When her husband becomes ill and dies, Nikki returns home permanently to finish raising her teenage daughter. There’s some resentment on Chloe’s end, since mom wasn’t around a lot while she was growing up, and Chloe sneaks out on her 16th birthday to hit up a local bar with her friends. Turns out, those friends absolutely suck at their job, because they quickly exit, leaving Chloe alone with a cute boy she met at the bar. One spiked drink later, and Chloe has been abducted by a human-trafficking ring known as “The Syndicate” (who are presumably a different entity from Mission: Impossible‘s anti-IMF force by the same name).

Nikki arrives just in time to witness the tail-end of the kidnapping and is forced to pull a Liam Neeson to rescue her kidnapped daughter. After taking out the first group of traffickers (one via a car key to the eye — a nifty bit of gore), she follows the trail to a Syndicate-controlled brothel named Club 30, where she … well, we don’t exactly know what she does here because the movie never bothers to show us. Thanks to some exposition and a few quick frames of flashback footage, we know she burned the place down (catching the attention of the local police) and gleaned enough info to continue her pursuit. It’s a bizarre omission, as part of the fun of this kind of movie is watching the hero travel from point A to B to C on their mission of revenge. Protector cuts point A from the movie and picks up at point B, with Nikki setting the timer on her wristwatch because she knows the trail will grow cold at 72 hours.

Now, there are some late-stage plot reveals that could account for why the filmmakers decided to omit an event that seems like it should have been a major set piece, but even once you have that information as a viewer, it’s still hard to parse a specific set of rules the movie follows to tell its story. On the whole, you get the sense that Grünberg and his team were throwing various ideas at the wall just to see what might stick, while, at the same time, trying to stay within the film’s small budget. At one point, Jovovich successfully fights off six armed SWAT team members, which I would have liked to have seen, but that also happens off-screen.

Milla Jovovich Still Has Action-Heroine Chops

Image via Magenta Light Studios

If there’s any reason to watch Protector, it’s most likely for Jovovich, whose action-star cred doesn’t suffer at all here. Though she’s now 50, you buy the long-time Resident Evil star taking down rooms full of bad guys as she frantically searches for her daughter. She seems committed to the stuntwork. There’s a fun little bit where she quickly puts in a mouthguard before ramming her car into a convoy of vehicles she’s pursuing. She even provides voice-over narration throughout the film in an attempt to keep the story on track. Sometimes this works, like when she tells the viewer that “pain is temporary, infections are not” while stitching up a nasty gash after a fight. Other times, it feels a little desperate, like when the movie opens with her explaining “the logistics of death” directly to the camera — a scene that might have had more of an impact had it been presented in one take without cuts.

When Protector takes its focus off of Jovovich, it really starts to suffer. Way too much time is devoted to a subplot where the local police department decides to ignore the massive sex trafficking ring in the city to instead focus on capturing — and maybe even killing — Nikki. It’s a bizarre bit of side-storytelling that only makes sense if … well, you can probably figure that out on your own. What’s really funny is that the movie knows you’re going to be ahead of it here, so it eventually and abruptly wraps that subplot up with the bare minimum of fuss.

The supporting cast is largely unnotable. The villains, with names like “The Butcher” and “The Chairman,” are of the stock action-movie variety from start to finish. Matthew Modine (Stranger Things, Full Metal Jacket) shows up in a small role as Nikki’s former commander, and it seems like he was only brought on board in an attempt to provide some gravitas to the film’s late-stage plot twist. It’s fair to say he’s done much better work elsewhere.

‘Protector’ Forgets that Revenge Movies Should Be Fun to Watch

Image via Magenta Light Studios

In addition, Protector is just an ugly movie. And I don’t mean that it’s ugly to look at (though it’s true that many of its fight scenes are dark and uninspiring). It’s ugly in that it never misses a chance to have a character call Nikki a “bitch” or refer to trafficked victims as “livestock.” Doing those things once or twice to reinforce that these are not good people who Nikki is going up against is fine. But doing them over and over again shows a lack of imagination, and it becomes wearying to the point where there’s little fun to be had in watching Protector. Revenge movies should be fun, and it should be an enjoyable experience watching Jovovich viciously strike back at those who have done her wrong.

But Protector spends way too much of its time recycling the most basic of action movie tropes. And by the time it attempts something different, pivoting the story to present Nikki as less of a standard-action movie badass and more of a psychologically flawed superhero who’d feel at home in M. Night Shyamalan‘s Unbreakable universe, the credits are about to roll. Either the twist needed to come earlier, or the filmmakers needed to do a better job of making sure it provided enough of a jolt to make the previous, largely generic 85 minutes worth the effort. As it stands, Protector‘s twist ending feels adrift in a movie that’s not compelling enough to support it.

Protector comes to theaters on March 6.

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Protector

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Release Date

March 6, 2026

Runtime

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92 minutes

Director

Adrian Grünberg

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Writers

Mun-Bong Seub

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Pros & Cons

• Milla Jovovich has still got action-heroine chops at age 50.

• Protector wallows in generic revenge-thriller tropes and leaves too much of its action off-screen.
• The film’s oddly structed plotting only becomes more head-scratching once a twist ending is deployed.

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On Apple TV, competition is always strong as the streaming service releases new TV shows and episodes. The streaming platform has built a robust library of thrillers and sci-fi dramas, with each week bringing new installments of their hit shows. Monarch: Legacy of Monsters returned for Season 2 last week on Friday, and the Monsterverse series immediately shot to the top of Apple TV’s top TV shows. The much-awaited season returned with an explosive season premiere that cements Monarch: Legacy of Monsters as the most ambitious sci-fi drama on the streamer. The series is set in the Monsterverse, which has been successful on the big screen but has never quite been attempted on the small screen.

At the same time, the second season of the hit crime thriller Hijack was wrapping up, with the season finale released this Wednesday. The new episode has helped Hijack dethrone Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, claiming the top spot this week according to FlixPatrol. The ranking could change when Episode 2 of the Anna Sawai-led drama debuts on the service this Friday. In the March 6 episode titled “Resonance,” Lee (Wyatt Russell) and Keiko (Mari Yamamoto) investigate a secretive village with a cult devoted to a mysterious creature while Cate (Sawai) crosses paths with a deadly stowaway. Hijack Season 2 was largely well-received by critics but did not receive the same acclaim among viewers. The show was initially conceptualized as a limited series but was renewed after it became a hit. With Season 2 behind the rearview mirror, Season 3 might also be in the running, according to writer Jim Field Smith.

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Will ‘Hijack’ Return for Season 3?

Apple TV has not renewed the show for Season 3, but Field Smith hinted in an interview with Variety that Hijack could return if the right idea materialized. “I think more like, is there more story for Sam? It’s not so much like, ‘Oh, could we do it again?’ Because, of course, you can do it again. Do I want to do it again, that’s a different conversation. Right now, I’ve literally just delivered this season,” Field Smith said. He added:

“If Apple decides they want another bite of the Hijack cherry, the question I will always ask is, what story is there for Sam? Not, where can we do it, but why? Of course, yeah, it could be on a boat. It could be on an e-bike, it could be in the back of a limo, it could be, you know, a submarine. Or it could transcend the Hijack format and it could move into a different arena. But that’s what I mean. The precinct is kind of irrelevant. It’s more about ‘Where could Sam go?’”

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters and Hijack are streaming on Apple TV. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.

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Release Date

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November 16, 2023

Network

Apple TV

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Showrunner

Chris Black, Matt Fraction

Directors

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Julian Holmes, Matt Shakman, Mairzee Almas, Andy Goddard, Hiromi Kamata

Writers

Al Letson, Karl Taro Greenfeld, Chris Black, Mariko Tamaki, Amanda Overton, Andrew Colville, Matt Fraction, Milla Bell-Hart

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 Britney Spears was arrested Wednesday night (March 4) in Southern California and booked early the following morning. The charge was unclear, according to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office website. However, TMZ reports that the detainment was in connection with a DUI.

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What To Know About Britney Spears’ Arrest

As mentioned, the California Highway Patrol arrested Britney Spears around 9:30 p.m. in Ventura County and booked her around 3 a.m. At around 6 a.m. on Thursday, officials reportedly released the pop star, according to the sheriff’s office records and TMZ. There are no other details about the arrest and a mugshot has not been released. She is scheduled to appear in court on May 4.

Spears Granted Restraining Order Ahead Of Arrest 

Britney’s arrest follows a legal win. According to TMZ, a California court granted the singer a permanent restraining order against a 51-year-old man named Donald. Court docs claim he’s been harassing Britney Spears online since 2013, making seemingly threatening posts like “bullet hole heart.” Also, last year, Donald was reportedly arrested for trespassing after popping up at her property. Donald was allegedly “shaking” and smoking a cigarette when cops pulled up after a 911 call from the singer’s security guard. The arrest report allegedly stated that Donald was behaving oddly and “made several incoherent comments.”

Now, the restraining order requires Donald to stay at least 100 yards away from Britney Spears at all times. The order is in place until 2030, per TMZ. Britney Spears said in the court docs that she doesn’t personally know Donald or have a relationship with him. He, however, reportedly has a criminal history that includes burglary and harassment charges, convictions of criminal trespass aggravated assault and accusations of cyberbullying.

Britney Went From THAT GIRL To A Tabloid Sensation

Britney Spears was born in Mississippi and raised in Louisiana. She was a teen pop phenomenon who became a defining superstar of the ’90s and 2000s. She rose to fame from Disney Channel’s ‘The Mickey Mouse Club’ to MTV and beyond. Spears is also the talent behind heavy hitters like ‘Baby One More Time,’ ‘Oops! … I Did It Again’ and ‘Toxic.’ Most of her albums have been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Additionally, she has two diamond titles: 1999’s ” … Baby One More Time” and 2000’s “Oops! … I Did It Again.” She released her last full-length album, ‘Glory,’ in 2016.

Despite musical success, Britney Spears became a focus of tabloids in the early 2000s. Headlines often dragged her as she battled mental illness and paparazzi documented the details of her private life.

Later, cultural opinion evolved to recognize the misogynistic media coverage of the time. The #FreeBritney movement was born and fans supported her fight to control her life. In 2008, Spears was placed under a court-ordered conservatorship. Her father and his lawyers had the say-so, controlling her personal and financial decisions for well over a decade. The conservatorship was dissolved in 2021. Two years later, she released a bestselling, tell-all memoir, ‘The Woman in Me.’ 

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Associated Press staff contributed to this report via AP Newsroom. 

Alongside the talented singers of American Idol and the nail-biting betrayals of Survivor, another show dominated early-2000s television: America’s Next Top Model. Decades before social media existed, aspiring models had little access to breaking into the cutthroat modeling industry. It’s even harder when the biggest modeling hotspots are often limited to major cities like New York and Los Angeles. That is, unless supermodel Tyra Banks had something to say about it.

As an underdog herself, Banks knew firsthand how hard it was to make a viable career out of modeling. America’s Next Top Model thus became her passion project — some would argue a little too passionate. On the one hand, Banks’ reality show gave women from all walks of life the chance not only to learn how to model, but also to compete for a magazine feature and a contract. On the other hand, the project slowly evolved into the stuff of nightmares for these once bright-eyed contestants — most are explored in Netflix’s latest docuseries, Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model.

Tyra Banks Has No Editorial Control Over ‘Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model’

Image via Netflix

Appearing in Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model without editorial control over how the docuseries portrays her, Banks seems poised to defend the show’s legacy. Early on, she frames ANTM as an educational platform designed to break down stereotypes surrounding the modeling industry. At a time when models were frowned upon for being “snobby” or “unintelligent,” Banks wanted to challenge that image by revealing the hard work required behind the scenes. Drawing from her own experience as a Black model often overlooked early in her career, she envisioned ANTM as a doorway for aspiring talent. Yet, as ratings soared and millions tuned in, the show’s popularity appeared to eclipse its original mission.

Following the success of its first season, ANTM quickly became the talk of reality TV, pulling in an average of five to six million viewers per episode at its peak. Due to popular demand, the show began releasing two cycles — essentially two seasons — per year. However, growing demand also meant increasing supply. As a producer, Banks felt it was her job to deliver more and more to keep the show relevant. In the process, education turned into entertainment, and models were put through the wringer with increasingly outrageous challenges. These included getting knocked off by a massive pendulum on the runway, posing as homeless people, and shooting with cockroaches. The irony is, as former contestants point out, these concepts aren’t even practices used by real fashion publications.

Tyra Banks Fails to Take Accountability for the Harm She Caused to Contestants and Fellow Judges

Despite the long list of atrocities mentioned in Reality Check, Banks doesn’t seem to take accountability for what happened. Rather than empathizing with the victims, she positions herself as a savior. Cycle 6 winner Dani Evans struggled to find legitimate modeling work due to the stigma surrounding ANTM within the industry. Instead of stepping in to help, Banks called Evans to apologize for doing “nothing” after learning that “there were certain doors that [Evans] couldn’t get into because [she] did Top Model.” However, Banks also claimed that she “always rode the fence” with Evans — a remark the former contestant finds offensive.

Other times, Banks positions herself as a fellow victim. In 2012, all three of ANTM‘s staple judges — Jay Manuel, Miss J. Alexander, and Nigel Barker — were let go. In Reality Check, Manuel recalls initially wanting to step back to focus on his own endeavors, only for Banks to ghost him and later send an email saying, “I am disappointed.” Although Manuel stayed for ten more cycles, he describes the environment as uncomfortable, citing Banks’ passive-aggressive behavior and the stripping of his producer rights. When the judges were ultimately fired, Banks claimed it was the TV heads’ decision, not hers. However, her treatment of Manuel — and failure to visit a hospitalized Miss J — suggests a disconnect between her words and actions.

Tyra Banks Hints at Cycle 25 of ‘America’s Next Top Model, Proving Some Lessons Remain Unlearned

Image via Netflix

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Every high has a comedown, and the same can be said for America’s Next Top Model. By Cycle 10 in 2008, the show’s ratings had slipped from their usual five to six million average viewers to around three to four million. By Cycle 16 in 2011, that number dropped further to two million. By its final season in 2018, Cycle 24 averaged fewer than one million viewers. In an effort to offset these losses, ANTM chased relevance through region-specific spin-offs like Asia’s Next Top Model, an All-Stars cycle, and one cycle dedicated to removing height restrictions altogether.

America’s Next Top Model eventually experienced a resurgence, but for all the wrong reasons. During the pandemic, ANTM became a binge-watch staple, and in today’s socio-political climate, social media users revisited the series to call out its long-standing problematic elements. At this point, the idea of ANTM returning as a pop culture phenomenon feels outdated, especially as audiences are now becoming aware of how much the modeling industry has evolved. Still, as Banks closes out Reality Check, she insists, “I feel like my work is not done. You have no idea what we have planned for Cycle 25.” Clinging to the remnants of the legacy she built, Banks appears unwilling to let go despite past controversies — an attitude that risks repeating the same mistakes if serious reflection remains absent.

Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model is currently streaming on Netflix.

What should’ve been a moment of celebration quickly turned into a heartbreaking situation that has left a community shaken. Authorities say a disturbing incident unfolded inside an Alabama hospital, leaving two people dead and many searching for answers. Now, details involving Precious Johnson and her husband, Kynath William Terry Jr., are emerging as investigators piece together what happened.

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Police Investigate Fatal Shooting At Alabama Hospital

Police in Homewood, Alabama, say officers responded to reports of a shooting at the Women’s Center of Brookwood Hospital on Sunday, March 1. When authorities arrived, they discovered that a woman who had been a patient at the hospital and a man were both suffering from gunshot wounds. Officials confirmed that both individuals died at the scene, and fortunately, no other patients, visitors, or hospital staff were injured during the incident.

Husband, Wife Identified In Tragic Hospital Incident

Authorities later identified the victims as Precious Johnson, 24, and her husband, Kynath William Terry Jr., 19. According to reports, Johnson had just given birth shortly before the shooting took place. Investigators believe Terry fatally shot Johnson multiple times before turning the gun on himself in what police say appears to be a murder-suicide.

Family members are now grappling with the devastating loss. Terry’s mother reportedly told reporters that the couple had been experiencing marital problems, though she said she was unaware of any violent behavior from her son prior to the incident. The shocking nature of the situation has left loved ones and community members struggling to understand what led up to the tragedy.

Hospital Officials Speak Out

In the wake of the incident, Danne Howard, president of the Alabama Hospital Association, spoke about the broader impact such events have on communities. She reportedly shared:

“There are a few places in our world where we should feel safe — at church, our hospitals, and our homes,” Howard revealed. “Unfortunately, things happen and we do not feel safe anymore. We want to assure the public that our hospitals and our health care providers consider safety just as important as providing quality health care.”

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It looks like Big Meech is making waves online again—and this time, it’s all about him and his son Lil Meech. Over the weekend, he took to social media with a post that’s got the internet buzzing. He claimed that he and Lil Meech might just be the ultimate father-son duo. And let’s just say, fans are already debating whether the hip hop legend is right.

RELATED: Whew! Dreezy Has Social Media Crackin’ UP At Her Comment Under Big Meech’s Recent Post (VIDEO)

Big Meech Calls Himself And Lil Meech Unbeatable

In the post making its rounds, Big Meech wrote, “Let’s debate shall we?? Me and my son are THE BEST duo to do it. There’s fathers out here that don’t do [sht] for they kids. And u know who u (Y’All) are. Name a better father-son duo.” While it’s unclear exactly what prompted this, there’s been a lot of chatter in the news about T.I. and his son King, and it seems Meech might’ve wanted to join the conversation. From mentoring to legacy, it’s clear that the Big Meech–Lil Meech connection is giving fans plenty to talk about—and no one’s holding back.

He Said WHAT? The Internet Really Can’t Believe This

Fans ran straight to TSR’s Instagram comment section and absolutely lit it up! Some were trying to figure out how Big Meech and Lil Meech could claim the crown when they “just met,” while others were busy throwing out their own father-son duos that they think deserve the top spot. A few even argued the debate should be wrapped up before we make it to tomorrow, because clearly, things are getting heated fast.

One Instagram user @princedaphotographer commented, “why he do this to him self 😂”

Instagram user @watchj claimed, “LeBron & Bronny… Sanford and son… Magic & EJ… Bart & Homer… Carl & Eddie Winslow…Jesus & Joseph… Percy & Romeo… Lawrence and the baby he had on Issa…. THEN yall“

Meanwhile, Instagram user @tynicolle joked, “Yall just met 😂”

While Instagram user @queen.janaye shared, “The Father(God) and The Son(Christ) 🤏🏾🤏🏾🤏🏾”

Then Instagram user @1017timdadon said, “Let’s wrap this up by midnight 🕛”

Lastly, Instagram user @muddasz_ added, “Yall are the last duo of ever think of unless we were making jokes about duos 😂”

Meech Drama Returns And We’re Here For It

The last time the “Meech” name blew up our timelines, it was Celina Powell calling out Lil Meech for allegedly acting a fool—and she didn’t hold back. Back in October, Powell hopped on her Instagram Story to make it very clear she wanted nothing to do with Lil Meech, writing, “I have nothing to do with that weirdo Demetrius aka Meme (Lil Meech to y’all). Please leave me alone about him. I don’t want sh*t to do with him besides the money I spent on him, lmao. But hey, like Summer Walker said, HIS LIFE IS TERRIBLE. F*** off.”

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