The dialogue sounded kinda thin in this film, like it was missing some low end. Maybe that was a deliberate decision to separate it in the mix, because I could actually follow it better than previous Nolan films. An unfortunate side effect was that none of the lines had any weight or impact to them. It kinda sounded like that out of phase effect you get when you don’t plug your headphones in properly.

I agree that everything else was still way too loud. There were scenes in this film that could have served as quieter interludes between the big and obnoxiously loud set pieces but there was always something that was just way too forward for no reason at all. Why the fuck did he want the water fountain in the palace to sound like a waterfall? It completely ruined the political intrigue scenes between Antinous and Penelope. And the droning, dissonant soundtrack just never let up. This guy doesn’t seem to understand that removing quiet, intimate scenes from his films makes the big and loud scenes he works so hard on way less effective.