Phoenix Rising

With stories of real trauma, it’s hard to ever imagine a true ending, and this documentary still manages to end on a hopeful note, if only because the hardest part has happened: Wood has managed to tell her story.

A powerful, troubling documentary.

Some may be tempted to lump in "Phoenix Rising" with the many recent documentaries about exploitative institutions and famous people accused of rape and sexual misconduct, falsely believing Wood's account to be another version of the same story. This is only true in the most general sense. ... "Phoenix Rising" also proves how each of these documentaries provides new information about the ways that rape culture, and our acceptance of it, proliferates in society and our collective mindset.

It goes without saying that Evan Rachel Wood’s story is a tough one, and the fact that she’s decided to put it all out there in Phoenix Rising makes the docuseries all the more worth watching.

The scenes that show the coming together of these women is where Phoenix Rising is at its most powerful, but also its most unnerving.

Berg has pieced together a complex, harrowing story with sensitivity and transparency, and Wood has met her with unsparing lucidity. It’s a film that deserves to cause an outcry.

The first half of “Phoenix Rising” works in peaks and valleys. Wood’s courage shines through, and by focusing on Manson’s alleged abuse, there’s a compelling exploration taking place about power dynamics and relationships in Hollywood.

"Phoenix Rising" proves most compelling during the first part, which includes a step-by-step breakdown of common patterns that domestic abusers follow to control and intimidate victims.

Some sections hold together better than others; amid everything else, the segments addressing Wood’s part in passing the Phoenix Act in California get shorter shrift than they might have if the documentary had more time to address everything it tackles in more depth. But the mission driving Wood, her family, and allies carries throughout.

Phoenix Rising could have used some of On the Record's coolness and clarity.