The Conference Ending Explained (Konferensen): Who is The Masked Killer? What is the Reason for the Carnage?
Based on the novel Konferensen (The Conference) by Mats Strandberg, (Konferensen in its original title) is a Swedish Netflix film. The horror and slasher film revolves around a group of municipal employees, led by Ingela (Maria Sid), who attend a conference to foster team spirit. But the atmosphere of The Conference in the holiday village of Kolarsjön changes when rumors of corruption begin to spread and a mysterious person chases and murders the lodging employees and the retreat participants, the nightmare begins. The Conference begins with officials from the municipality of Kolarängen discussing the latest details surrounding the opening of a shopping center. In the middle of the conversation, the topic of compensation to a farmer arises, which provokes an argument between Jonas (Adam Lundgren), the project coordinator, and Lina (Katia Winter), who was on leave and does not recognize the documents that appear with his sign.
The Conference is the latest slasher genre product added to the already well-stocked Netflix catalog. Swedish-produced and directed by Patrik Eklund, the film follows a group of mismatched municipal employees on an out-of-town retreat for a team-building weekend before the construction of the Kolarängen shopping center. Although it is a weekend designed to be together and get to know each other better, differences soon begin to emerge within the group, caused by jealousy and suspicion. Lina, one of the employees who has just returned from a period of illness, discovers that one of her colleagues, Jonas, has signed papers for the wrongful expropriation of land from local farmers for the construction of the shopping center.
Not only that: she also learns that one of these farmers, due to the confiscation of his farm, took his own life. Too busy slandering each other behind their backs while pretending to team up with team-building exercises in nature, the group members initially fail to notice that a ruthless serial killer is starting to massacre the employees of the accommodation facility where they are staying. And when even the first of them begin to fall, the group of colleagues will have nothing left but to cooperate to survive. But who is the killer and what is the motivation behind his thirst for revenge? Let’s find out in our explanation of the ending of The Conference, of which you can also find our review.
The Conference (Konferensen): The Story Plot
A diverse group of municipal employees goes for a weekend out of the city before the construction of the new shopping center in the town of Kolarängen. The retreat aims to combine business with pleasure: develop the skills necessary to work together on the new project and, at the same time, get together and get to know each other better with team-building exercises amid nature. Soon, however, internal differences within the group begin to emerge, mainly because the construction of the shopping center will result in the expropriation of land from local farmers. In a climate of envy and rivalry disguised as team spirit, a ruthless masked killer begins to claim victims around them; when the group realizes it, however, it will be too late.
The Conference Ending Explained (Konferensen): Who is The Masked Killer?
Having reached the last twenty minutes of the film, the masked serial killer – using an arsenal of weapons and diabolical traps – has managed to murder many of the municipal employees, except the aforementioned Lina and Jonas, Nadja, Torbjörn, and Eva. Precisely the latter two, after having had a direct clash with the homicidal madman and having managed to put him in difficulty, prepare to face him in a final battle, arming themselves with a golden shovel. The killer, however, surprises them from behind but, just when he is about to get the better of them, Nadja comes to the rescue and, taking up the golden shovel, cuts off the mysterious killer’s head, thus putting an end to the nightmare.
Meanwhile, Lina, who had fled into the woods to escape the carnage, finds all the phones that had been stolen and calls the police. No time to rejoice, however, when Jonas attacks her behind her back, probably to silence her about what the woman has discovered. But in the clash Lina manages to get the upper hand, so Jonas becomes the only victim to have fallen not at the hands of the masked killer. In the finale of The Conference, we see the survivors being taken away on stretchers by the ambulance, while a police officer asks Lina what happened; she, thinking back to what the woman head of the team – killed by the killer – had said at the beginning of the weekend, replies: ” An exercise for developing skills “. The shot then shifts to a bloody newspaper page that reads: “We will not give up without a fight”.
What Is the Reason For The Carnage?
Let us not forget what was written on the bloody newspaper page: “We will not give up without a fight“. Although it is not specified, it is clear that this is a declaration by farmers, angry at the improper confiscation of their lands for the construction of the new shopping center. By exterminating all the municipal employees in charge of the project, they probably thought they would discourage the start of the work; or at least quench their thirst for revenge. In this sense, it seems natural to think that under the mask was hiding the son of the farmer who committed suicide, determined to avenge his beloved father.
Who is the Masked Killer?
The Conference ends without the murderer’s identity being revealed to us: when Nadja cuts off his head with the shovel, it remains inside the mask and is not shown to us. In reality, however, we have all the clues to be able to formulate a hypothesis. First of all, we feel we can firmly exclude that the serial killer could have been a member of the group of colleagues; this is because during the first murders – those of the hotel staff – all the employees were engaged in team-building exercises. Furthermore, no one is missing: each of them either survived or died. The most valid hypothesis therefore remains that it was someone coming from outside, motivated by hatred towards municipal employees; it is logical to think of one of the local farmers whose land had been stolen or, even more likely, of the farmer’s son who had taken his own life.
Lina manages to return to the forest and escape from the murderer. Meanwhile, Jonas goes down and the other employees try to prepare for the next attack, also speculating about the identity of the man chasing them. They believe that it is Frans from the environmental office and that in the past he attacked Ingela. Anette, who sewed Jonas’s head a little earlier, also believes that it is her friend Frans, so when she sees him, she remains calm and explains that she is on his side. However, when she removes Sotis’s mask she realizes that he is not Frans. So, who is the murderer? Thanks to a newspaper, the protagonists of The Conference discover that it is the son of farmer Pålsson, who wants revenge for his father’s suicide.
Although they plan to escape via the zip line, only Lina and Amir manage to reach the other side of the river. Meanwhile, the murderer attacks Eva and Torbjörn, who fight with all their might, as does Nadja, who appears just in time to cut off his head with the golden shovel with which Jonas planned to inaugurate the construction of the shopping center. The Conference ends with Lina calling the emergency services and surviving an attack by Jonas, who wanted to kill her to prevent her from ruining his project. In the end, only Lina, Eva, Nadja, and Torbjörn survive.
