The Conference

The plot of this movie is a work outing to a team building sort of “camp”. This pack of Swedes all work together in some capacity and they are celebrating the impending ground breaking on a mall that they are responsible for in some capacity. It seems as though most of these people are only really capable of tolerating each other begrudgingly. Sure, they appear to be an amalgamation of offbeat stereotypes in one sense or another similar to The Office. The biggest problem is that most of the people are not terrifically likable. They don’t quite cross over into unlikable, per se. But there is a measure of difficulty in really rallying behind anyone in particular. I will say that they did a fair job of emphasizing the flaws in several of the characters for the sake of either a modicum of comedic relief or to highlight the specific characters you will be more than satisfied to bear witness to their impending demise.

One thing that can be difficult with a foreign film, especially when it comes to attempting to find an anchor in the cast is that none of the faces are familiar. It doesn’t mean that you can’t become enamored in one way or another with an actor or two in the proverbial mix. However, I will say that it does make it harder to cling to the faces you’re meant to identify with over the course of the movie. Despite flaws, despite shortcomings, we still need people to rally around, especially in the wake of a killer. Some movies like to teeter between the ambiguity of should we root for the killer or should we hope for survivors. I will say that the similarity to “Thanksgiving” is real in the sense that I never got the feeling that the killer was meant to draw any measure of sympathy. There’s really not a lot of information provided about who the killer is and I think in the end we are meant to assume something but it’s a little shaky. I don’t think the language barrier helped a ton in the way of not being able to read Swedish on screen. I know there were subtitles that attempted to illuminate headlines I couldn’t read myself. But I suppose to a degree, knowing who the killer is, in the end, isn’t a reveal worthy of much. They crafted a moderately feeble narrative to twist and turn into what felt like it was intended to lead to some measure of satisfying conclusion. It feels like a misdirection in it’s entirety as knowing or not knowing who the perpetrator is, in the end, does not feel like it indicates the success or failure of the movie.

I will say, despite my seemingly pessimistic tone, that the movie seemed to achieve what it meant to and that it was enjoyable to a degree. This movie feels like a quintessential horror movie in that it occupies the middle of the road. It’s not good enough to rise above the pack. But it’s also not abhorrent enough to be truly miserable to endure. It’s right down the middle. It’s a 5 out of 10 in the truest sense. There really is just enough here to really make it a relatively enjoyable watch. I think that’s the thing about a perfect 5 movie. I won’t denigrate it just for the sake of it, but I won’t praise it either. There were things that went right and things that went wrong. In the end, it’s a series of things that happened and I observed them. I don’t need to watch it again. It was what it was and it scratched the itch I needed it to when I did. I think as I’m really taking in the full scope of what happened, I’m actually quite impressed with the mediumness of this movie. For everything I could criticize, there is an equal weight at the other end. The characters who acted over the top and were particularly obnoxious, to an almost cartoonish end, are weighed out perfectly by the creativity and thoughtfulness of the slasher’s anticipation of so many potential outcomes. Everything in this movie really weighs out somewhat perfectly for me, I must say.

Clearly I’ve already arrived at my ranking for this movie. It was nothing special and it was nothing horrible. It was. I think there’s a reasonable assumption that most folks would naturally arrive at a very similar conclusion. I’m not attached to the project in any way so I have no motivation, good or bad, to add to or detract from it’s existence as a film. It’s one that is on Netflix and you can watch it if you like. That’s ultimately what it boils down to. If the thumbnail grabs you with the same measure of okayness that I was prompted with on first observance, I think you’ll probably find my outcome is nigh inevitable. There’s a “Schrödinger’s Horror Movie” element to it where this movie exists as both good and bad until you watch it. But it’s almost as if I never removed it from it’s box to determine as the movie is both good and bad still. So I think I can only endorse this movie on the premise that it’s yours to figure out. I don’t mean that to be wishy-washy about an official position on the film. However, I do think the reality exists that this movie is perfectly middle. I don’t love it. I don’t hate it. I don’t like or dislike it. It simply exists for me and I have experienced it. It’s an interesting premise to undertake because I don’t think I’ve seen too many movies where I literally wouldn’t go 5.1 or 4.9 just so that there’s an official leaning, however minute it may be, in on direction or another. But this one really seems to be that as I sit here and attempt to find a feeling about it. Initially I thought I might lean towards liking it. But as I began to review it, I had no affinity one way or the other. I didn’t even want to be detrimental towards it based on ambivalence. I legitimately feel perfectly balanced in my neutrality on whether or not this movie is a success or a failure. So I’ll simply balance this one perfectly in the middle and walk away. I know the “you decide” ending is many times a copout. I have times where I enjoy the open ended nature of a film’s interpretability. I have others where I demand a conclusion. But sometimes it just fits. This is one such time. And I believe on that note I have arrived at my own conclusion of this review. Which isn’t a review and it is at the same time. Before it becomes an existential crisis I’ll simply move on so as to not think myself into non-existence. And on that note, I’ll catch you on the flip side.