The Conference (2023) on Netflix Explained: Who was the killer?

Modified Oct 14, 2023 14:46 GMT

It is emblematic that Netflix released the slasher The Conference on Friday the 13th. Based on a book by Mats Strandberg, The Conference centers on local government workers who go to a vacation resort for a team-building event just before the construction of a shopping mall begins.

According to their manager, Ingela, if questioned, they participate in "professional development training" for tax benefits. However, the real agenda is to enjoy drinks and outdoor activities in the scenic area they will soon transform. From the very start of the movie, nobody was invested in the training or felt a team spirit. The plot of the story is relatively linear.

The team leaders, Ingela and Jonas, want the team's support for building the new mall. However, the employees are unsatisfied with how the land for the mall has been snatched from a farmer named Pålsson. The farmer even hanged himself after his farm was snatched by the corporation. The trip takes a grisly turn as a mysterious person starts killing them one by one.

Disclaimer: Major spoilers ahead

The Conference: Who is the killer?

Even before claiming his first life, the killer rigged the forest with deadly, delicate wires, blocked off access routes, and cut off communication by disabling phones and the internet.

While it wasn't part of his original scheme, he stumbles upon a mask, originally part of a Swedish charcoal burner outfit, and uses it to conceal his face. This not only shields his identity but also adds to his menacing appearance, continuing a long tradition of masked villains in horror films.

He initially targets the staff of the vacation resort. After that, it's a bloodbath. One after one, everyone is on his radar. The murders he performs are ghastly, but the cinematography finds a clever way to switch scenes before the viewer is forced to pause the movie altogether.

The group deduces from a newspaper that Pålsson's son, the farmer whose land was taken away, was the one seeking revenge. In the end, Eva and Torbjörn put up a great fight against the killer. But it was Nadja who beheaded the killer with a shovel while he tried to kill Eva and Torbjörn.

In the ending, the image of the paper from which the employees inferred that Pålsson's son was the murderer is shown. Even when he is beheaded by Nadja, his face isn't revealed.

However, with the motive to avenge his father's death and the brutality of the murders, it is a fair deduction that only someone like Pålsson's son could do it. Therefore, Pålsson's son is the killer.

The killer's fight against capitalism in The Conference

The Conference is a Swedish horror film that serves as a critique of corporate culture, capitalism, and urban development. Especially the characters Ingela and Jonas symbolize the menace of overambition on account of climbing the ladder of success.

The killer's motives are driven by the death of his father. It's a vicious cycle that is reflected in the incident. The company took the life of his father, and he, in turn, took their employees. Furthermore, the killer crippled the very crux of the project by ending the lives of the faces of the task.

Although he himself died in the end, his rebellion terrorized the people to the extent that the whole trip became all about "survival" instead of their initial plans to consolidate the mall.

By the end of The Conference, a realization dawns upon the surviving characters. The epiphany happens when, in the end, they are able to save their lives because of 'teamwork.' Thus, the horrific trip was probably the best team-building exercise they could have ever imagined.

The Conference is now streaming on Netflix.