127 Hours (2010)

127 Hours is a 2010 British-American biographical survival drama directed by Danny Boyle. James Franco stars as Aron Ralston, an experienced outdoorsman who became trapped alone in a remote Utah canyon in April 2003 when a boulder shifted and pinned his right arm against the canyon wall. Over the following five days, Ralston rationed his meager water supply, recorded video messages to his family, hallucinated, and ultimately made the extraordinary decision to amputate his own arm with a dull multi-tool to save his life.

Danny Boyle faced the challenge of creating a compelling feature film from a scenario involving a single actor trapped in one location, and his solution was to deploy his full arsenal of visual techniques — split screens, hallucination sequences, flashbacks, fantasy interludes, and an A.R. Rahman score that ranged from electronic pulses to soaring orchestration. James Franco's performance required him to convey the full range of human emotion — panic, hope, resignation, dark humor, delirious joy, and agonizing determination — largely through facial expression and monologue.

The amputation scene, depicted in graphic, unflinching detail, caused audience members to faint at screenings. 127 Hours earned $60 million worldwide on a $18 million budget and received six Academy Award nominations including Best Picture and Best Actor.