Sometimes it feels like we’re all trapped in Derry, Maine.

It: Chapter Two brings the second half of Stephen King’s 1986 horror epic to the screen next week, after a summer marked by unthinkable acts of violence, surging incidents of hatred and cruelty, and surreal disagreements about basic reality. Demagogues lurk on the fringe, feeding on unease, confusion, and division.

It all starts to feel a little too on the red nose.

“We live in a world where there’s a culture of fear, where some leaders have a strong pull on people, which is exactly what Pennywise does,” director Andy Muschietti told Vanity Fair. “You can take it as an analogy: If you are separated, you’re more vulnerable, you’re more weak, and you’re easier to conquer. You’re easier to be made submissive and scared. That’s exactly what Pennywise does, and that’s what’s going on. That’s what’s happening in this world right now.”

But the filmmakers and actors behind It hope audiences can recognize something hopeful in the story: There’s courage to be found in the Losers’ Club, and membership is open.

“It really is a film about sticking your neck out for others,” said Jessica Chastain, who plays the grown-up version of Beverly Marsh, played in the first by Sophia Lillis. “It’s about speaking up when you see someone being abused or bullied or attacked. You see so much of who the Losers are when we meet them [as adults] in the second film. They really wouldn’t be able to defend themselves, but they defend each other. I think that’s actually a really beautiful thing. It’s putting the other before the self.”

“Fear not” is an unlikely theme for a horror movie about a shape-shifting malevolent entity that devours people after tenderizing them with terror and misery, but King’s novel hasn’t endured for three decades based on creep-factor alone. Generations of outcasts have grown up cherishing the book, and the uplifting friendships at the center of the first film, released in 2017, were part of what brought moviegoers back again and again—making It the highest-grossing horror film in history.

Chapter Two aims both to celebrate bravery and to highlight a harsh lesson: that sometimes, the pain of the past can return to do more damage.

“It’s a scar that becomes leather. This, to me, is the biggest message of the film,” said producer Barbara Muschietti, the director’s sister and longtime collaborator. “At some point, you have to face it. You won’t be able to finish your life if you don’t get rid of that trauma. And we all have some…. They get courage through unity. Pennywise is a master of division. He basically wants to divide and conquer. Their victory stems from remembering who they were as kids, and what they were able to do when the scar was fresh.”

King has been effusive about the new It movies—saying they go beyond freak show scares to capture the emotion and resonance within his novel. Andy Muschietti understands that the story is scarier because It viewers care so much about the people who are in danger.

The heroes of It are so familiar that we’re still on a first-name basis with them: Bev, Mike, Ben, Bill, Eddie, Stanley, Richie—but they’re also recognizable as archetypes of the marginalized: An abused girl. An African American kid. An overweight boy. A stutterer. A sickly child. A Jew. A smart aleck whose jokes hide secret insecurities. “I think it’s hard to not see that symbolism because they’re such distinct characters and each one of them is dealing with such a personal issue,” said Isaiah Mustafa, who plays Mike Hanlon. “I would hope that most people who feel as though they’re the outcast, who think they’re able to see something familiar in this film, will then say, ‘This is where it stops for me. This will lead me into standing up and saying, No more.’”