Netflix has announced a new Swedish project, titled The Conference. Directed by Patrik Eklund (the series The Gambling Scandal and We Got This), the new comedy-slasher flick is based on the 2021 novel of the same name by Mats Strandberg and has been penned by Thomas Moldestad. The news was first reported by Variety.

In detail, The Conference follows a team-building conference attended by municipal employees, which spirals into a nightmare when accusations of corruption begin to circulate and plague the work environment. Simultaneously, a mysterious figure begins stalking and murdering the participants one by one. The creative team labels it as “a Swedish comedy-slasher with warm, humorous characters”.

The main cast boasts Katia Winter (the series The Sunny Side and Agent Hamilton) and Adam Lundgren (Hilma, the series The Restaurant) in the leading roles as Lina and Jonas, alongside Eva Melander (UFO Sweden, the series The Gambling Scandal) as Eva. Other confirmed cast members are Bahar Pars, Maria Sid, Marie Agerhäll, Christoffer Nordenrot, Amed Bozan, Lola Zackow, Claes Hartelius, Cecilia Nilsson, Jimmy Lindström and Martin Lagos.

The project recently wrapped filming. Strandberg, who is known as one of the Nordic country’s most prolific horror writers, has had his books published in over 30 countries and will serve as the film’s executive producer. His 2011 book The Circle, co-written with Sara B Elfgren, was also adapted into a feature, 2015’s The Circle [+leggi anche:
trailer
scheda film].

“It has been fantastic to serve as an executive producer on The Conference. We’ve had a way better atmosphere in our meetings than the characters do in the film. Thomas Moldestad and Patrik Eklund have done an incredible job of capturing not only the blood and the tension, but also the humour and the everyday awkwardness that can only take place at a Swedish conference. And the cast is better than I could ever have imagined,” said Strandberg.

“It is an honour to be bringing The Conference to the screen together with SF Studios and Netflix. With Mats Strandberg’s unique novel as a model and a phenomenal cast, this film has all the potential to become a future classic. A very bloody, entertaining and gripping story about the unsung anti-heroes of the public sector,” added Eklund.

The Conference is being produced by Ina Sohlberg for Sweden’s SF Studios. It will be released globally on Netflix later this year.