IF YOU’VE ever had the feeling you were stuck between a rock and a hard place, spare a thought for poor Aron Ralston, whose remarkable survival story is the subject of Danny Boyle’s nerve-shredding thriller.

After receiving an avalanche of awards for Slumdog Millionaire, expectations were astronomically high for his highly-anticipated follow-up, which will close the London Film Festival tonight.

Wisely choosing not to try and repeat the same formula as Slumdog, 127 Hours lives up to the buzz already surrounding it and draws a curtain on this year’s festival with a satisfying bang.

James Franco is perfectly cast as the cocky extreme sports fanatic (he even looks a little like the real Aron) who, after setting off alone for a spot of canyoneering in Utah, tumbles into a narrow crevice and gets his right arm trapped beneath a falling boulder.

With just a camcorder, passing wildlife and his memories to keep him company, Aron desperately tries to find a way to escape while struggling to survive the desert heat and dehydration.

Aron’s harrowing five day ordeal is reminiscent of Joe Simpson and Simon Yates’s catastrophic climb in the Andes, whose book Touching The Void was also adapted into a film in 2003.

But while director Kevin Macdonald’s movie took the form of a documentary, mixing dramatisations with commentary from the two climbers, Boyle’s film plays like a slick, fast-paced thriller, complete with a thumping soundtrack and stylish split screen montages.

Fortunately, the hip visuals and Hollywood gloss never distract from the real life trauma of Aron’s seemingly hopeless attempts to free his arm and his emotional torment, faced with life or death decisions.

At just 94 minutes long, it’s not exactly an epic, but with relatively little action you’d be forgiven for thinking a film about a man effectively immobile for almost the entire feature would be a test of even Job’s patience.

However, a series of flashback scenes and hallucinations help keep the story ticking along and it never flags.

Ingeniously Boyle manages to seamlessly weave Aron’s backstory into the film without the audience ever feeling like we’ve left the central story and these scenes also ensure you actually care about his plight As has been previously reported, the film involves a toe-curling self amputation and, be warned, it is as graphic as they say.

With its nail-biting tension and a breakthrough performance from the charming Franco, 127 Hours grabs you by the balls, squeezes them hard and never lets go.

Boyle has crafted a film so intense and gripping, your head will be spinning from the adrenalin rush and your feet will be leading you back to the box office for a second viewing.

127 Hours (TBA) closes the London Film Festival tonight and is released nationwide on January 7.