Ubik is probably Philip K Dick’s greatest achievement, yet is relatively low profile, being one of the few PKD works not made into either a genre-defining movie (“Bladerunner”, “Paycheck”, “Imposter”, “Total Recall”) or an anthology TV series (“Electric Dreams”). Ubik is the story of Joe Chip, a down-at-heel evaluator of talented psychics. The story takes a strange, perilous turn after a meeting with a client goes wrong, and Joe’s only chance of salvation is the occasional – seemingly magical – appearance of help in the form of a toothpaste, haircream, aerosol spray or balm, always called ‘Ubik’.
Whilst some of the more bizarre plot twists will leave non sci-fi geeks amongst you cold, what I liked about the concept was the idea of this recurring motif of help, assistance & support at times when we most need it. That’s what Ubik Connect feels like.