Anna to the Infinite Power

Lore & Background

The film follows twelve-year-old Anna Hart of Flemington, New Jersey, a genius and kleptomaniac who suffers from prophetic dreams. She discovers her exact double on local TV news and learns she was part of a cloning experiment by a woman named Anna Zimmerman, who died 20 years earlier. Anna's mother volunteered for the project, but her father opposed it. Anna dreams of Zimmerman's past as a Jewish child prodigy pianist in Nazi-controlled Germany, where she was involved in Nazi plans for genetic engineering.

Reader's Guide

Anna to the Infinite Power is notable as a cult item that blends domestic banality with paranoid conspiracy. TV Guide critic Frank Lovece called it 'an oddly engrossing cult item — sort of a Brady Bunch episode about cloning,' praising its 'sinister, conspiratorial undertones' despite flat direction and wooden acting. The film's final third, set in a futuristic medical complex, generates genuine suspense. The film's signature score 'Anna's Reverie' was composed by Paul Baillargeon, who also has a cameo as Anna's brother's music teacher. The film was never theatrically released, premiering on HBO and later on home video.

Did You Know?

• The film was based on a 1981 novel by Mildred Ames.
• The music teacher of Anna's brother Rowan was played by actor John H. 'Jack' O'Leary, not by composer Paul Baillargeon.

Plot & Narrative Structure

The film follows twelve-year-old Anna Hart, a gifted student in Flemington, New Jersey, who discovers she is the product of a cloning experiment. Her unusual traits—kleptomania, prophetic dreams, headaches triggered by flickering lights—foreshadow her connection to Anna Zimmerman, a woman dead for twenty years who was a child prodigy pianist during World War II in Nazi-controlled Germany. Anna's investigation, aided by her brother Rowan and a mysterious piano teacher named Michaela Dupont, reveals that her mother volunteered for the cloning project while her father had no involvement. The narrative escalates when Anna and her parents are taken to Albacore Island, where she discovers multiple other Annas in separate rooms and overhears plans to eliminate them. The film's climactic twist recontextualizes Michaela as Anna Parkhurst, the original product of Zimmerman's experiment, who ultimately offers Dr. Jelliff the replicator plans in exchange for the safety of all the cloned girls.

Production & Behind-the-Scenes

Based on Mildred Ames's 1981 novel of the same title, the film was produced by Ned Kandell Enterprises and Film Gallery, the latter being the studio behind the American syndicated children's series Big Blue Marble. This connection ran deep: numerous alumni from that television program contributed to the film, and the opening credits of Big Blue Marble are even visible within the movie itself. The production found its home on pay-cable rather than in theaters, premiering on HBO before making its way to home video. Musically, the film is anchored by "Anna's Reverie," a signature score composed by Paul Baillargeon. Baillargeon's involvement extended beyond the soundtrack—he appears in a cameo role as the music teacher of Anna's brother Rowan, a small but personal touch that bridges his compositional work with the on-screen narrative.

Reception & Critical Response

Critics have consistently noted the film's peculiar blend of domestic normalcy and sinister conspiracy. TV Guide's Frank Lovece, reviewing the VHS release, dubbed it an oddly engrossing cult item and likened it to a Brady Bunch episode about cloning. He acknowledged flat direction, wooden acting, and a home-movie quality, yet argued that very ordinariness made the conspiratorial undertones more believably compelling, with the final paranoid-conspiracy sequence delivering genuine suspense. Mac McEntire of DVD Verdict, reviewing the 2010 DVD, echoed the praise for the final third set in the oddball futuristic medical complex, where Anna sneaking around generated real paranoia. However, he criticized the pacing as off and the ending as abrupt, comparing the overall look and feel to 1970s TV cult shlockers like Bad Ronald and Don't Be Afraid of the Dark. He did find Martha Byrne's performance just low-key enough to be realistic and heartfelt without being cutesy or annoying.

Release & Home Media History

The film never received a theatrical release, instead premiering on HBO's pay-cable service. By at least November 8, 1983, it was airing in a 7 a.m. timeslot. The first home video release came in 1983 or 1984 through RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment on VHS. The title then sat largely out of public circulation for over two decades until 2010, when Scorpion Releasing issued a DVD edition. That release included supplementary interviews with two of the film's young stars, Martha Byrne and Mark Patton, offering retrospective perspective on the production. The absence of a theatrical window and the reliance on pay-cable and later home video distribution shaped the film's reception, contributing to its identity as a cult item discovered by viewers in their living rooms rather than in darkened theaters.