10 Surprisingly Dark Moments In Laika's Missing Link

Stephen Fry plays Lord Piggot-Dunceby, head of The Optimates Club. When we first meet him in the film, he's relating a seemingly harrowing tale to his right-hand man, Mr. Collick. The story ends with Piggot-Dunceby pulling a hidden pistol and shooting a man between the eyes. Collick's reply? "Thank goodness he was unarmed."

To put this into greater perspective, The Optimates pride themselves on bringing civilization to primitive cultures. If Piggot-Dunceby was able to blatantly murder an unarmed man without suffering any consequences whatsoever, it seems likely that he was in a country where his crime would not have been processed in traditional fashion. His later boast about bringing table manners to savages suggests that he's spent a lot of time in such locations, and killing those who won't adopt his way of life is simply par for the course.

During the 19th century, this type of disregard for the lives of those whose cultures differ from our own would not have been uncommon. In fact, The Optimates appear to be named after an ancient Roman political faction that was not above calling for the deaths of those who opposed the ruling class. Missing Link gives us an English version of this same faction, led by a man with no scruples regarding who he chooses to kill and whether they die in a fair fight.