It’s a crowded world we live in. Director Danny Boyle drives the point home from the moment 127 Hours opens, putting on screen clip after clip of writhing masses of humanity. So many people, in fact, that just one shot can’t hold them, and he begins subdividing the screen, doubling, tripling the loud, chaotic bustle (both of these elements — split screens and crowds — become separately recurring motifs as the film progresses). For the sake of convenience and society, we cram ourselves into small spaces, but often, for the sake of our sanity, we need to get away from those madding crowds. Aron Ralston was doing just that on a gorgeous late spring day in 2003, on a solo canyoneering trip in the deep, narrow slot canyons of eastern Utah.