The Conference (2023 film)
| The Conference | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Patrik Eklund |
| Written by | Mats Strandberg |
| Screenplay by | Patrik Eklund Thomas Moldestad |
| Based on | Konferensen |
| Produced by | Ina Sohlberg |
| Starring | Katia Winter Adam Lundgren Eva Melander Bahar Pars Amed Bozan Maria Sid |
| Cinematography | Simon Rudholm |
| Edited by | Robert Krantz |
| Music by | Andreas Tengblad |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Netflix |
Release date |
|
Running time | 100 minutes |
| Country | Sweden |
| Language | Swedish |
The Conference (Swedish: Konferensen) is a 2023 Swedish slasher film directed by Patrik Eklund and co-written with Thomas Moldestad based on the 2021 novel Konferensen by Mats Strandberg and starring Katia Winter, Adam Lundgren and Eva Melander.[1] It premiered on Netflix in October 13, 2023.[2]
Plot
[edit]A group of municipal employees set out to a resort in a remote rural village for a team-building conference in anticipation of the start of their upcoming project, the construction of a retail mall in the local farming community. Despite the severe backlash from local residents, the manager, Ingela, considers the project a rousing success, and congratulates the project lead, Jonas. Also on the trip are Jonas's fanatic supporter, Kaj; slacker friends Eva and Torbjörn; the environmentalist Anette; Nadja, a new employee; Lina, who has recently returned to work after suffering burnout from overwork; and her colleague and friend, Amir.
The retreat starts badly, as Nadja points out inconsistencies and gaps in the expense report, and Lina is confused and upset to see her signature on a document that refuses to compensate the farmer whose land was bulldozed to build the shopping center, as she had been adamant about compensating him appropriately. Ingela and Jonas react harshly to the criticism and the meeting is quickly tabled, with Jonas threatening Lina in private to keep quiet. Meanwhile, the employees of the resort are killed by a masked stranger who hides their bodies to avoid detection; he also steals the group's cell phones and destroys the resort's internet connection.
During a zip-lining exercise, Jonas and Kaj mock Lina for being too intimidated to participate. Having learned from Amir that the cheated farmer died by suicide after losing his land, Lina leaves and sneaks into Jonas's cabin, stealing information from his laptop onto a flash drive. With Nadja and Amir's support, she reveals to Jonas that she has learned the construction project is a sham: Jonas had failed to garner any brand partnerships to stock the mall, and unbeknowst to Ingela (who is attracted to him) he had schemed to sell the wasted land back to a corporation in exchange for a lofty job. He had intentionally overworked her so that she would be too distracted to notice the scheme, and had forged her signature while she was on medical leave. Jonas fails to bribe Lina into silence, and she threatens to expose him unless he cancels the project.
The killer finally descends on the employees, killing Kaj in front of Anette, who manages to escape. He then murders Ingela by hanging her from a nearby flag pole, causing the other employees to flee in a panic. Lina and Jonas run through the woods, which has been booby-trapped with wire; Jonas runs into it and cuts his forehead openly deeply. The killer follows them to the lake, where they escape on a raft they had built in an earier team-building exercise, but while they are paddling away, Jonas threatens Lina into returning the flash drive before kicking her into the lake and escaping.
Lina reaches the shore and returns to the resort's main lodge, where the other employees except Anette and Jonas are waiting. They realize that the killer is the son of the dead farmer; he had killed the resort's employees because they supported the construction project, and now he is coming after them. They decide to try using the zip-line to get across the lake to safety, but on the way there, they end up separated when the killer appears and Eva flees in terror, leading Torbjörn to run after her. Lina and Amir escapewhile Nadja is caught in a bear trap, though she manages to fight off the killer before freeing herself and running off. Later, Anette is murdered by the killer as Jonas callously abandons her.
Lina and Amir escape on the zip-line, but the killer has booby-trapped the landing pad with spikes, and Amir sacrifices himself so Lina can survive. She discovers the stolen cell phones and call for help. Meanwhile, Torbjörn and Eva hide in the resort's lodge and are confronted by the killer. They manage to fight him off, with Nadja striking the final blow by decapitating him with the shovel meant for breaking the constructin project's ground. As Lina makes her way back to the resort, she is attacked by a deranged Jonas, who blames her for everything and attempts to murder her, but she kills him by re-opening his head injury, essentially scalping him. Returning to the campground, she is treated by emergency services.
Cast
[edit]- Katia Winter as Lina
- Adam Lundgren as Jonas
- Eva Melander as Eva
- Bahar Pars as Nadja
- Amed Bozan as Amir
- Maria Sid as Ingela
- Christoffer Nordenrot as Kaj
- Claes Hartelius as Torbjörn
- Cecilia Nilsson as Anette
- Lola Zackow as Jenny
- Jimmy Lindström as Karl
- Martin Lagos as Roger
- Marie Agerhäll as Cleo
- Robert Follin as Sotis
- Margareta Pettersson (voice actor)
Production
[edit]The screenplay was co-written by the director Patrik Eklund and Thomas Moldestad, based on the 2021 novel Konferensen by Mats Strandberg. A Netflix original film, it was produced by Ina Sohlberg for SF Studios.[1] The crew also featured Guldbagge-winning Tove Jansson, Eva von Bahr and Love Larson as make-up artists,[3] Ingrid Sjögren as costume designer, and Tim King and Jonathan Ridings as executive producers alongside Mats Strandberg, with Jimm Garbis as associate producer.[4]
Most of the film was shot in Stockholm and its surrounding areas.[5] In fact, the Mälaren lake is thought to be one of the shooting locations of Conference.[6]
Release
[edit]The Conference premiered globally on Netflix in October 13, 2023.[2][7] It released during pre-Halloween season.[8]
Reception
[edit]On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 74% of 19 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.9/10.[9]
Alexander Kardelo of MovieZine rated the film 4 out of 5 stars, deeming it a "brutally entertaining slasher comedy" and writing that "[it] offers its audience an intense nightmare experience that tickles the chest to death".[10]
Karolina Fjellborg of Aftonbladet rated it 4 out of 5 stars, calling it "a festive, fresh breath of a slasher film, which combines some of the genre's most classic approaches with very Swedish characters, in a very Swedish context".[11]
Mrinal Rajaram of Cinema Express rated the film 2.5 out of 5 stars, reckoning it is "based on an interesting premise" and "[brims] with potential" at first, but "loses a bit of itself in the slasher cliches", resulting in "the expectation [turning] soon to disappointment and [settling] eventually on boredom".[12]
Emiliano Basile of EscribiendoCine rated it with 6 out of 10 points, stating that "Patrick Eklund makes a social satire-like slasher comedy that's shamelessly gore and a fun reflection on humans' incredible capacity to resist".[13]
Accolades
[edit]| Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 59th Guldbagge Awards | Best Makeup and Hair | Tove Jansson, Eva von Bahr and Love Larson | Won | [14][3] |
| Best Visual Effects | Alan Banis and Andreas Hylander | Nominated |
References
[edit]- ^ a b Bergqvist, Mattias (2023-02-01). "Netflix gör film av Mats Strandbergs "Konferensen" – alla detaljer". Expressen (in Swedish). Retrieved 2024-07-14.
- ^ a b Romanchick, Shane (2023-09-15). "A Company Retreat Goes Horrifyingly Wrong in 'The Conference' Trailer". Collider. Retrieved 2024-07-14.
- ^ a b Rätzer, Sarah (15 January 2024). "Här är alla vinnare på Guldbaggegalan 2024" (in Swedish). Expressen. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
- ^ "The Conference (Konferensen)". Cineuropa (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-07-14.
- ^ Shrestha, Naman (2023-10-11). "The Conference: Every Filming Location of the Netflix Movie". The Cinemaholic. Retrieved 2024-07-14.
- ^ Fecou, Louie (2023-10-17). "Where was The Conference filmed? Horror Locations Explained". Ready Steady Cut. Retrieved 2024-07-14.
- ^ Abbatescianni, Davide (2023-02-03). "La comedia slasher sueca The Conference llegará a Netflix este año". Cineuropa (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-07-14.
- ^ Adejobi, Alicia (2023-10-19). "Netflix's 'brutal' Swedish horror will put you off office team building". Metro. Retrieved 2024-07-14.
- ^ "The Conference". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
- ^ "Skräckpremiär på Netflix! "Konferensen" hyllas (och slaktas) av kritikerna". MovieZine (in Swedish). 13 October 2023. Retrieved 2024-07-14.
- ^ Fjellborg, Karolina (2023-10-12). "Netflix "Konferensen" är en störtskön svensk slasher". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 2024-07-14.
- ^ Rajaram, Mrinal (2023-10-15). "The Conference Movie Review: It had the potential to be a classic whodunnit but ends up being a campy slasher flick". Cinema Express. Retrieved 2024-07-14.
- ^ Basile, Emiliano (21 October 2023). "Crítica de "La conferencia (Konferensen)", la máscara de la hipocresía". EscribiendoCine (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-07-14.
- ^ Pham, Annika (14 December 2023). "Axel Petersen's Shame on Dry Land leads Swedish Guldbagge nominations". Nordisk Film & TV Fond. Nordisk Film. Retrieved 15 July 2024.