The Conference: Swedish comedy-slasher from Netflix an exercise in corporate greed and gore

The concept of a horror movie based on the exploits of office workers is always a curious one; reading the synopsis ahead of watching Netflix’s new comedy-horror, ‘The Conference,’ which begins streaming today on the platform I ran my mind over a couple of films it could be like.  Could it be as visceral as ‘The Belko Experiment’ or ‘Mayhem’? Try as I might not to make the immediate comparison before watching Patrick Eklund’s film, I couldn't escape the feeling that I might be watching a Swedish remake of Danny Dyer’s 2006 comedy-horror, ‘Severance.’

And from the outset, I might have been correct with my assumption: both deal with office outings/team building days which are a horror upon themselves at the best of times. Both deal with slightly broken characters within a comedic, splatstick environment and both seem to deal with corporate greed and how it affects local communities. 

Though with ‘The Conference,’ there is more of a corrupt business plot to it rather than a simple case of mercenaries gone mad in the case of Danny Dyer’s comedic effort. Which I liked, by the way - don’t get me wrong, I was one of those rare people who actively enjoyed the film, which to the credit of that film’s creative team was a very different take on the horror group trope. 

Our plot begins with some less-than-enthusiastic team members visiting the site of a new build, one that residents are none too happy about - except for the sycophantic staff at the ‘luxurious’ retreat that the group will be spending their team building trip at. We meet Jonas, the “go-getter” of the group and his friend (nee: lackey) Kaj - a hyper-excitable member who is looking forward to the success of the build and the promotion to a more exclusive arm of the conglomerate they work for.

Then there is Lina, who has returned after a period of absence from the workplace and who, surprise surprise, is not allowed to engage in any extremely stressful activities, much to the chagrin of the retreat’s resident adrenaline junky-cum-activities manager. But Lina is suspicious about the morality of how one particular resident, a farmer, signed over his farm for no compensation - leading to his suicide. Then comes the mystery slasher, and Jonas’ costume he adorned to raise the spirits of the team becomes Chekhov’s killing mask; not only does Lina and the group have to contend with a psychopath stalking them at the retreat, a stone throws away from where ground will be broken for Jonas’ idea, but Lina in particular needs to be wary of Jonas after uncovering his nefarious act of corporate corruption.

It plays out how you think it would; an innocent(ish) member of the group cornered alone, tries to duke it out with the psycho killer and ultimately perishes. The gore hounds reading this will be pleased to know there are a few moments that may delight you - the hot tub scene in particular a set piece to watch for - leading to the revelation of who the killer is. You standard slash affair.

But for me, the interesting theme in the movie was the moral quandary that some of the members found themselves in and, in Lina’s case, the additional danger not only of the mystery slasher but of the opportunistic Jonas - a team member who is looking to climb his way up the corporate ladder by any means necessary. That leads to Lina in two forms of danger, and Eklund manages not to cross the narrative streams yet both flow together naturally. Ill-fated members of the group find themselves posed with two threats; the threat of the masked killer and the threat of how far a company will go to reach their goals; perhaps a wink to the concept of gentrifcation in rural areas for all-consuming retail chains?

‘The Conference’ is a little paint-by-numbers at times regarding the slasher element, and perhaps those looking for a gorier affair regarding office workers might want to visit ‘The Belko Experiment’ or ‘Severence,’ while those looking at a film that balances a working person’s dilemma with frights might opt for ‘Sorry To Bother You,’ itself a darkly comedic take on the corporate world. But for an interesting comedy-horror this weekend to check out, ‘The Conference’ has many more merits to it than inferiorities. It’s a romp that is bloody, witty, clever and one of the better direct-to-Netflix horror films that has been released.