Debates about science fiction often have to do with how the stories make us feel. For a genre supposedly all about speculation, the greatest sci-fi always seems to carry some kind of a message, and when that happens, people want to know what’s the good, what’s the bad, and what themes can help us with our own lives. As a result, sci-fi sometimes gets unfairly grouped into two categories: optimistic or dystopian.

But it’s not really that simple. The most so-called optimistic science fiction often has some of the darkest storylines, while supposedly dystopian stories can create great beauty. So sci-fi is not all one way, and the best of the genre usually walks a line of emotional realism. One contemporary show that gets that balance better than most is For All Mankind.

Ahead of Season 4, Inverse talks to creators of Apple’s breakout epic about telling a sci-fi story set in an alternate version of the 21st century.

Michael Kennedy has discovered the secret to selling a horror movie in Hollywood: make it a twist on a classic. It’s how he sold Freaky, his sleeper horror hit take on Freaky Friday, and how he got Justin Long to play a stab-happy businessman in the new Christmas horror movie It’s a Wonderful Knife. You can probably guess what classic it’s putting a spin on.

“I knew that It’s a Wonderful Life was the way I wanted in on doing a Christmas horror movie,” Kennedy tells Inverse.

But why It’s a Wonderful Life, specifically? Inverse spoke to Kennedy about how he came up with the idea, why Justin Long may be a new indie scream king, and why he thinks genre-bending horror movies are having their moment.