Dunst stars in 'E.T. update' for NSA generation at Berlin fest

Kirsten Dunst unveiled a sci-fi thriller by acclaimed US director Jeff Nichols at the Berlin film festival Friday, which takes inspiration from "E.T." and updates it for the NSA generation.

Dunst, who has been acting in movies since her early childhood, told reporters after a press preview that "Midnight Special", a supernatural story about parenthood, had appealed to her as she's grown more selective about film roles.

"There is a point I think with any job, if you do it that long, where you question whether... you want to continue doing that," she said.

"I definitely had that and I think when I was around 27 I changed the way I worked and it made me love it even more. I've kind of waited more for projects the older I get and been even a little pickier because I have to be extremely passionate about something in order to do a role."

Dunst, 33, became famous at a tender age appearing alongside Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt in "Interview with a Vampire" and later co-starred in films such as the "Spider-Man" series and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind".

She's recently scaled back movie roles but appeared regularly in the hit television miniseries "Fargo".

Texas-born director Nichols, 37, has become one of the most sought-after US independent filmmakers for pictures such as "Take Shelter" and "Mud" starring Matthew McConaughey.

- 'No control' -

"Midnight Special", which was cited by IndieWire magazine as one of the most anticipated releases of 2016, stars Dunst and Michael Shannon as parents of an eight-year-old boy named Alton with superhuman powers.

The boy radiates intense light from his eyes and speaks in tongues, qualifying him to become a prophet for a heavily-armed doomsday cult in the American South.

But Alton's fantastical mutterings, which a pastor (Sam Shepard) cites in sermons to the cult, come out as numbers instead of words.

When the figures turn out to be coordinates to sensitive military sites, the federal authorities get involved, including an NSA communications analyst played by Adam Driver ("Star Wars: The Force Awakens").

A chase ensues with the various factions out to capture the boy, and his parents desperately trying to outrun the assailants and keep their otherworldly son safe.

The movie touches on hot-button issues in a feverish US political season including gun control, religious fundamentalism and sprawling state surveillance.

But Nichols said the seed of the story was in fact the difficult birth of his own son and a search for ways to process the deep anxiety that arose from it.

"It made me realise in this moment that anything could happen to him and I would have no control, that I was forever going to be linked to this human being and if anything ever happened to him out in the world I would be devastated... and this fear kind of overtook me," he said.

Making the film, Nichols said he borrowed from Steven Spielberg blockbusters he loved growing up including "E.T." and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", but updated them for a less innocent age.

"What I think that type of film does especially well is, you build this sense of mystery and it leads to this sense of awe, this kind of wonderment," he said.

"It's a very positive feeling."

"Midnight Special" is one of 18 features vying for the Berlin film festival's Golden Bear top prize, to be awarded by a jury led by Meryl Streep on February 20.