The Conference is a 2023 Swedish slasher comedy film directed by Patrik Eklund and written by Thomas Moldestad. It is based on the novel by Mats Strandberg. The film stars Kalle Holmqvist, Jakob Öhrman, and David Dencik.
Friday the 13th is the perfect day for a good slasher film with a touch of dark humor and a classic soundtrack. “The Conference” comes with a good dose of a very peculiar, ironic, and intelligent sense of humor.
This movie goes beyond a simple murder flick, and ironically addresses issues such as public employment, urban planning, and the use of public resources.
Synopsis
A group of public sector employees attend a team-building conference at a remote hotel. The conference begins innocently enough, but soon turns into a nightmare as a mysterious masked killer begins stalking and picking off the participants one by one. As the body count rises, the remaining survivors must band together to survive. They must also uncover the killer’s identity and motive before they all become victims.
Review of “The Conference”
This film knows its strengths and knows how to make the most of them. Don’t expect a display of fast-paced action, flashy effects, and shocking sequences. “The Conference” is a movie starring public employees who humorously approach their work. Trapped in a hotel reminiscent of “Friday the 13th,” they will have to deal with its irony.
The strengths of “The Conference” lie in its dialogues and the irony surrounding real estate speculation, capitalism, and public employment, especially in the beginning.
In the second half, as the movie takes on a more slasher tone, it becomes even funnier, with a truly brutal and ironic ending. Its cinematic treatment is far from Hollywood.
Thus, “The Conference” offers an interesting dual reflection from the Swedish perspective: public employment and cinema itself. By taking a genre entirely “made in Hollywood” and transforming it into a European film, intelligent and ironic, it successfully finds its strengths: irony and intelligence.
It is not a bloody movie, but it does have sequences that do not seek morbidity or gruesomeness at all.
It is a more cerebral film than an adrenaline-driven one, with more internal irony than one would imagine in a seemingly simple slasher.
Our Opinion
It may not be the movie of your lives, but it has so much humor in its dialogues and deviates so much from Hollywood conventions that, without being “Dogma cinema,” it provides a more than enjoyable viewing experience.
Release Date
October 13, 2023
Where to Watch The Conference
The Cast
Katia Winter, a Swedish-born actress, made a name for herself in the entertainment industry. After moving to England at a young age, she developed a passion for acting and pursued it by studying film, screen acting, and editing in London and Stockholm. One of her most notable roles was as Katrina Crane in the FOX series Sleepy Hollow, which gained her recognition. Additionally, she played the character Milla in the film The Killing Game. Throughout her career, Katia has taken on various television and independent film roles. Notably, she appeared in the British drama Unmade Beds (2009), directed by the acclaimed Alexis Dos Santos, as well as Everywhere and Nowhere (2011), directed by Mejhad Huda. In March 2010, she relocated to New York, and soon after, she landed the lead role of ‘Milla’ in The Killing Game, starring alongside Samuel L. Jackson and Kellan Lutz.
Christoffer Nordenrot
Amed Bozan
Lola Zackow
Jimmy Lindström
Robert Follin