In ‘Phoenix Rising,’ Evan Rachel Wood Doesn’t Hold Back on Hollywood, Marilyn Manson or Herself: TV Review
variety.comCaroline Framke Chief TV CriticHaving been in the spotlight the vast majority of her life, both onscreen as an actor and offscreen as a Hollywood cautionary tale, Evan Rachel Wood understands how media works.
She sees the potential of its manipulation, and how the consequences can careen out of control. And so Wood made the conscious choice to take hold of her own narrative for “Phoenix Rising,” the new documentary about her life that acts as a sharp corrective to how she’s seen her life unfold in front of the world, and as a record of how she understands it now.
Even before the documentary delves into Wood’s accounts of suffering horrifying abuse at the hands of Marilyn Manson, the provocative rock star whom she dated as a teenager, “Phoenix Rising” is a startlingly vulnerable account of Wood’s life as a child actor, a confused kid processing trauma, and a young woman forced to mature far before she was ready.
And when they do commit to unpacking the Manson allegations, neither Wood nor “Phoenix Rising” holds back. Directed by Amy Berg, “Phoenix Rising” will premiere later this year on HBO in two parts.
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