Netflix is preparing for Spooktober by releasing a selection of horror movies and series. Today, we will take a look at the Swedish comedy slasher film The Conference.
SYNOPSIS
A group of municipal employees goes on a work retreat at a modest resort in the countryside of Kolarsjön, Sweden, to build morale and celebrate ahead of breaking ground on their new development: a mall that’s sowed division in the small community where it’s being built. The employees are a bit too jaded to tolerate their boss Ingela’s cheerleading, and the team-building exercises make it abundantly clear just how dysfunctional they are together.
Lina is exhausted after recovering from burnout caused by her micromanager, Jonas. In her absence, Jonas took some liberties in making the development deal. While Lina tries to get dirt on Jonas’ workplace corruption, an unknown murderer slaughter begins stalking and murdering the participants, one by one.
IS THE CONFERENCE WORTH YOUR WATCH?
The horror film “The Conference” is directed by Patrik Eklund, known for “We Got This,” and written by Thomas Moldestad, who wrote “Cold Prey.”
The story is based on the bestselling Swedish novel “Konferensen” by horror author Mats Strandberg, who also served as an executive producer for the film.
OUR TAKE
The team of coworkers is highly dysfunctional, and they do not seem to get along. Most of the team members are unlikable, they seem to have been written solely for the purpose of being disliked by the audience. You will not find yourself rooting for them as they start getting killed one after the other.
As a horror movie, there is brutal violence, including some impressive scenes for genre enthusiasts. However, some of the massacres occurred off-screen.
The focus of the movie is not on the killer or the mystery of who is behind the mask and why they are killing the members of the work retreat, but the audience will find out towards the end.
The editing with cuts and transitions in The Conference is impressive. However, the premise and plot lack complexity and are straightforward. The characters and story are one-dimensional, without any depth or development.
Although the movie might appeal to fans of the horror genre, it fails to engage the audience with its characters or storyline. It could be worth watching if you want to keep up with the tradition of watching horror movies in October or just to have it on in the background. However, aside from that, it’s rather forgettable and unremarkable, so we wouldn’t recommend streaming it.
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“The Conference” is directed by Patrik Eklund and written by Thomas Moldestad.
The story is based on the bestselling Swedish novel “Konferensen” by horror author Mats Strandberg, who also served as an executive producer for the film.
Runtime 100 minutes
CAST
- Katia Winter
- Maria Sid
- Adam Lundgren
- Christoffer Nordenrot
- Eva Melander
- Claes Hartelius
- Bahar Pars
- Amed Bozan
- Cecilia Nilsson
- Lola Zackow
- Marie Agerhäll
- Jimmy Lindström
- Martin Lagos