There’s a running theme in Phoenix Rising, the two-part documentary on Evan Rachel Wood’s story of domestic and sexual abuse by shock rocker Marilyn Manson, of evidence. Wood, a 34-year-old actor, has old photos from the early stages of her relationship with Manson, whom she met as an 18-year-old in 2006 (he was 37) – cherubic and teenage before, atrophied and vacant after.
The film selects from journal entries recounting her emotions as he turned her against friends and family. There are so many press and paparazzi photos of them together, which makes public fascination with the pair – a gorgeous Hollywood Lolita with middle America’s nightmare in goth makeup – feel even more queasy now. During filming from 2019 until Wood publicly named Manson, given name Brian Warner, on Instagram in February 2021, several other women and former Manson associates come forward with details either mirroring her experience or corroborating her memories riddled by the repetitive trauma, sleep deprivation and drugs she says Manson forced on her.
