[14] Warner is suing both Wood and Gore for defamation, as well as intentional infliction of emotional distress, violations of the California Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud Act, and the impersonation of an FBI agent and falsifying federal documents.
[15] One of Warner's former romantic partners, Greta Aurora, has alleged that Gore – acting on behalf of Wood – attempted to recruit her to their group of accusers on two separate occasions.
[11] He claims Gore obtained his log-in information – as well as his Social Security number – via his former assistant,[13] Ashley Walters, who is also suing Warner.
"[17] In May 2023, a judge dismissed the parts of the lawsuit that involved the FBI letter and the allegations that Wood and Gore used a checklist for other women to use to accuse Warner of abuse.
[19] Time's reviewer Judy Berman commended the documentary, saying that "Berg subtly yet persuasively makes the case that the real—and disturbingly conspicuous—threat he [Manson] posed was not to Colorado high schoolers he’d never met or even to God-fearing Americans in general, but to young women.
"[20] Writing for the Salon, reviewer Melanie McFarland cast the film as another useful piece of the puzzle formed by recent documentaries about alleged serial sexual predators, saying "But if Surviving R. Kelly demonstrates how cavalierly Black women are dismissed by the justice system, and W. Kamau Bell's We Need to Talk About Cosby dissects the ways its subject carefully exploited his fatherly image to operate for decades as a serial rapist without suffering any consequences, Phoenix Rising explains why survivors can take years to come forward.
"[21] Sheila O'Malley from Roger Ebert gave the film two and half out of four stars, saying that though "Wood's trauma is undeniable", the "leaping around in chronology is unnecessarily confusing, and the Phoenix Act battle—where she testifies before the California legislature, pleading the bill's case to different representatives—is over in about 10 minutes, never to be mentioned again.