May 13, 2026 4:16am PT

‘Dua’ Review: A Conflicted Kosovan Coming-of-Age Drama Beset by War

Premiering in Critics' Week at Cannes, 'Hive' director Blerta Basholli’s second feature illuminates her own upbringing amid sociopolitical tumult.

Siddhant Adlakha

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Siddhant Adlakha

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Pinea Matoshi in "Dua"

A coming-of-age drama that gradually turns morose, Blerta Basholli’s sophomore feature “Dua” follows up her Sundance-winning 2021 debut “Hive” as a reflection of Kosovan women in the late 1990s. This time, however, the director draws from her own experiences as a girl who came of age in the shadow of the Kosovo War. The conflict looms large over the film’s Kosovar Albanian teens — as does institutionalized discrimination against them — but Basholli’s intentionally blinkered focus, through the eyes of her 13-year-old protagonist, proves constraining and liberating all at once. Subjective to a fault, “Dua” is, by any overarching measure, a mixed bag of dramatic experiences, yet it unfolds with the confidence of something fully and richly formed.