This is very definitely a Christopher Nolan thing, and a significant
failure in his art.  There was an extended interview where he defended
(weakly, inarticulately) the choice not to foreground the dialogue.  The
specific movie in question was Tenet, but the point being made was broader.

Alan

On 03/08/2026 23:41, Christopher Sean Hilton - chris at vindaloo.com
(via tml list) wrote:
> On Mon, Aug 03, 2026 at 04:40:21PM +0100, The Traveller Mailing List wrote:
>> ============================================================
>>
>> [ ...snip... ]
>>
>> Except.  It was WAY too loud in the screen I saw it in.  Painfully so in large chunks.  And
>> this from someone who struggles to hear.  Which meant it was also ironic that I couldn't
>> hear about 30% of the dialogue.  I fear my cinema going days maybe numbered.
>>
> I think that this is a Christopher Nolan thing or perhaps, all movies thing. I found the
> same to be true of _"Dunkirk"_. The special effects were deafening but the dialog was often so
> low you couldn't make it out. I honestly find this aspect of 2026 movie going to be really
> annoying. Finally, it's not just movies. While I certainly have hearing loss, there are many
> times when I feel that my only choose is to have the closed captions on, not because I can't
> hear the dialog but because it buried under sound effects in the mix.
>
> -- Chris
>