Evan Rachel Wood speaks out and stands up for herself, as well as other domestic abuse survivors, in the official trailer for Phoenix Rising. Directed by Amy Berg (The Case Against Adnan Syed), Phoenix Rising had its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival and will air on HBO as a two-part documentary.
Part one will air on March 15, 2022 at 9pm ET/PT followed by part two on March 16, 2022.
HBO’s provided the following description of the documentary:
Phoenix Rising delves behind familiar headlines and explores the often-misunderstood aspects of domestic abuse, helping to shed light on the many factors that prevent survivors from coming forward with their stories as they deal with years of aftershocks and emotional trauma.
At age 18, Wood was pursued by then 37-year-old Brian Warner, known to the world as the rock icon Marilyn Manson. In sway to his status, image, and persuasive personality, she began a relationship with him that spanned over four years. As the relationship progressed, Wood went from a teenager flattered by his attention, to a young woman terrified of the man who claimed to love her, and she experienced escalating emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. Looking back, she recognized a pattern of grooming and control tactics similar to those experienced by other survivors who told their stories of harrowing experiences at the hands of Warner.
Connecting the dots between the progression of her relationship with Warner and phases of the clinical domestic violence cycle, Wood successfully lobbied for The Phoenix Act, which was signed into California State Law in 2019, extending the statute of limitations for domestic violence felonies from three years to five years.
Using archival footage, intimate home videos and candid testimony from Wood and other survivors, Phoenix Rising charts Wood’s journey from silent victim to vocal survivor and her rise to a domestic violence advocate. Amid rising public controversy and an active law enforcement investigation, Wood stands in solidarity with other survivors. On February 1st, 2021, Wood publicly named Brian Warner, aka Marilyn Manson, as her abuser, free from the burden of silence, even as the promise of justice remains ambiguous. To date, no charges have been filed against Warner, who denies abusing Wood or any other person.
