In 2003, Aron Ralston (James Franco) prepares for a day of canyoneering in Canyonlands National Park in Utah and drives to the trailhead at night. The next morning, he bikes through the park, aiming to cut 45 minutes off the guide book's estimate for the time needed to reach his destination. He is on foot, running along a bare rock formation when he sees two hikers, Kristi (Kate Mara) and Megan (Amber Tamblyn), apparently lost. Ralston convinces the pair that he's a trail guide and offers to show them a much more interesting route than the one they had been trying to find. He leads them through narrow canyons, including a blind jump into an underground pool, where the three film themselves repeating the plunge using Ralston's video camera. As they part company, Kristi and Megan invite Ralston to a party they're holding the next night, though they doubt he will show.
