For years, Evan Rachel Wood and countless other women declined to accuse Brian Warner, better known of Marilyn Manson, of abuse.
When they came forward, they revealed that horrific and violent threats against them and their families had kept them quiet.
Now, a chorus of survivors have spoken out to accuse Manson of unspeakable cruelty and abuse.
In the trailer for HBO’s Rising Phoenix documentary, the cameras follow Evan Rachel Wood as she advocates for and connects with other survivors.
This week, HBO released the trailer for Rising Phoenix.
Evan Rachel Wood has used her voice and her platform to advocate for change — with real success.
California passed the Phoenix Act following her testimony and activism.
In the Rising Phoenix trailer, Wood emphasizes: “We need to make sure this doesn’t happen to anybody else.”
Obviously, her efforts to encourage legislative reforms to help other survivors are a big part of that.
But on a more personal level, she is also shown connecting with other survivors in person.
These other women who have accused Marilyn Manson of sexual assault knew that they faced an uphill battle.
After all, statutes of limitations — conceived and passed almost exclusively by men — precluded them from seeking justice.
But they knew that they had to change things for future survivors.
Woods testified in front of the California state legislature, and she was not alone.
Experts also expanded up on her words, speaking of the grim realities that abuse survivors face.
For example, many take years to process what happened to them enough to tell even a trusted friend or therapist, let alone to seek justice.
California passed the Phoenix Act in 2019.
The bill very simply extended the amount of time that survivors have to press formal charges against an abuser.
While it is not the only political effort of its kind — survivors of abuse and rape have had similar struggles for justice in many states — it did lend its name to the documentary.
Wood spoke of how she was able to heal when connecting with other survivors.
“I realized that this is the first time I haven’t been doubted or questioned or shamed,” she confesses in the trailer.
“This is the first time that someone was really listening,” Wood reflects. “I was like, ‘What is this feeling?'”
Rising Phoenix premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January of this year.
Reports from the premiere revealed Wood’s allegation of Manson having “essentially raped” her during a music video.
This was during the filming of “Heart-Shaped Glasses” in 2007.
Wood noted during the documentary that she was aware in advance that there would be a simulated sex scene.
Given the alleged abuse in the relationship and the level of psychological manipulation at play, she was afraid to voice concerns.
“But once the cameras were rolling,” Wood describes in the documentary, “he started penetrating me for real.”
“I had never agreed to that,” Wood says. “I’m a professional actress.”
“I’ve been doing this my whole life,” the Westworld star and True Blood alum points.
Wood observes: “I’ve never been on a set that unprofessional in my life up until this day.”
“I didn’t know how to advocate for myself or know how to say no,” Wood laments.
She explains that this was “because I had been conditioned and trained to never talk back, to just soldier through.”
This is an extremely common mentality for victims of child abuse and of partner abuse.
Manson has adamantly denied all of the allegations from Wood and from all of the other women who were unlucky enough to have known him.
Rising Phoenix: Don’t Fall is the first part of the docuseries, and will premiere on HBO on Tuesday, March 15.
Part 2, Rising Phoenix: Stand Up, debuts the next day.
