On 1 February 2021, Wood posted on Instagram, “The name of my abuser is Brian Warner, also known as Marilyn Manson. He started grooming me when I was a teenager and horrifically abused me for years. I was brainwashed and manipulated into submission. I am done living in fear of retaliation, slander, or blackmail. I am here to expose this dangerous man and call out the many industries that have enabled him, before he ruins any more lives. I stand with the many victims who will no longer be silent.” 

Produced and directed by Oscar-, Emmy- and BAFTA-nominated filmmaker Amy Berg (The Case Against Adnan Syed, Deliver Us from Evil), the documentary has a 97% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics’ consensus says, “Evan Rachel Wood is fearless in Phoenix Rising, a harrowing exposé on abuse, tabloid complicity, and the long process of healing.”  

The Telegraph called the documentary a “blazingly courageous, necessary watch”, while The Wrap hailed it as “a wake-up call to us all.” Brian Warner has since sued Wood for “a conspiracy” to “publicly cast” him as a “rapist and abuser,” which, he says, is “ a malicious falsehood that has derailed [his] successful music, TV and film career.” Billboard published a timeline of the multiple allegations against Warner in March 2022. You can read it here. 

Watch Phoenix Rising first on Showmax here.