Directed by Amy Berg
Running time 1 hour 30 minutes per episode
Rating TV-MA
Premieres on HBO March 15th

by Whitley Albury, Staff Writer

Content warning: sexual abuse, suicide, emotional and physical abuse

Phoenix Rising isn’t only about the origins of the Phoenix Act in California, nor is it only about the abuse that Evan Rachel Wood suffered at the hands of Brian Warner, aka Marilyn Manson. The documentary covers the majority of Wood’s life, from her early childhood in a Raleigh suburb, to running away with her mother to Los Angeles, to the aftermath of her escape. I believe that part of why the documentary focuses for the most part on her is to highlight that, even when you have a “glamourous” Hollywood life, you’re still susceptible to abuse in any form.

In many ways, the two-part documentary is hard to watch. Not only because of Wood’s description of abuse, but because of how much of her story honestly kind of mirrors my own. Her dad was a dick, her childhood was spent walking on eggshells. Her parents fought all the time. “We fight because we love each other,” is something that her father told her after a particularly nasty one. She lived with her mother in L.A. since age 9, and was cast in very mature roles. She even refers to her experience on the set of Thirteen as something that made her unable to say no, which, in turn, made her the Lolita of the early Aughts. It was a title she never asked for, which I think opens up the discussion for the film industry. She was closeted until 2011, as she never felt safe to come out to anyone in her life. She met her abuser at a party, where he used Phantasmagoria, a supposed film he wanted to make, to lure her into his world. I was lucky and got out before severe abuse started, she was not.

The documentary goes back and forth, between then and 2020. For some of the “past” sequences, there’s absolutely gorgeous animation to fit in with Wood’s story, from her finding an old porn magazine in the street to becoming this dark Queen of Hell-type of character the more she was with Warner. This, mixed with home video footage, highlights just how young she was when she first met him. The present scenes show Wood working with artist and fellow activist Ilma Gore, and the pair working together to bring enough evidence to supplement their plea for the Phoenix Act, an act in the state of California that would change the statute of limitations for domestic violence cases from 1-3 years to 7-10. 

Another thing I really appreciate about this documentary is how it provides definitions for terms like “love bombing” and “grooming.” These are terms that are used often in the storyline, and for the general audience who might not be familiar with these terms, I think it helps give even more context for everything.

Obviously, there are a lot of heavy themes here. From physical to emotional to sexual abuse, drugs, mental health, and suicide attempts. And it’s raw, but it’s never covered more than is necessary. The documentary does include the fact that Warner himself has mentioned numerous times that he was also abused by his parents growing up. “If you’re a survivor, how do you not become vindictive and not become an abuser yourself?” The question itself really is one to make you pause and consider.