I was recently watching the Sixth Sense, which prompted me to wonder if I’m the only one that feels like some movies feel truly impossible to follow everything in the story without captions. For this movie specifically, Haley Joel Osment’s character was difficult to hear in his particular speech patterns and hushed voice.
I know Tenet is infamously not-great with it’s sound design that this could be another example.
What are some of yours? Tell me I’m not the only one.


I watch every movie and show with subtitles. It’s just easier because I don’t have to turn the volume up so much and I can eat while watching without missing any dialogue and if someone talks over I still don’t miss anything. Sometimes there are snippets in dialogue I’m not even sure you are supposed to hear them but you can still read them in the subtitles.
This is the big one for me. If I hear a character mumbling but the subtitles say “[incoherent mumbling]” then I don’t worry about it. But if i hear a character mumbling and the subtitles actually show me what they’re saying, I know the audience was supposed to have understood it.
Or some far away dude yelling something in the background.