In the first shot of Yvonne Meier’s film, Hidden, we see a secluded waterfall in a lush landscape. A natural pool collects at its bottom, a dried-out, rocky riverbed beyond, all at the foot of a tree-covered mountain. Entering the woods, we observe a figure dragging a giant ball of rope up the mountain. The rope-ball is an oversized version of a childhood toy, the Wonderball, a small woolen ball with toys that would spill out when the ball unraveled. Back at the riverbed, we discover a large bundle of newspaper, fringes cut into the ends. Suddenly, the giant rope-ball comes flying down the waterfall and lands in the pool. The newspaper mound begins to tremble, then shake, evolving into a full-blown shaking and trembling dance. We hear Eastern European songs to which the newspaper dancer responds with a stomping and fringe-ripping dance. During the newspaper dance, we see the first ballman appear from the woods, jumping into the freezing pool to retrieve the rope ball. Upon unraveling the ropes, a weird snake dance ensues. This dance ends with the ball dancer laying out the various ropes to form a path for the second dancer to travel—actually to escape—using the rope to guide her hands and feet. Both dancers end up at the pool. The newspaper dancer rips the cloth of the rope-ball dancer, and they both jump into the pool and disappear. The film evokes a slow-growing terror, one the viewer may never be able to name but feels. Through the process of imagining it, Meier realized Hidden was a piece about the ongoing war in Ukraine. The film is not a strident anti-war declaration, but a mysterious reflection and embodiment of the effects this violence is having on all of us, whether we know it or not.