I finally bit the bullet and watched this after quite literally three years of putting it off out of fear. It was a nightmare come true for someone like me. I'm glad I did watch it, though, even though I was teary the entire time.
Paul Raci is awesome! I read somewhere that they were considering casting a more prominent actor for his role but decided to go with Raci, given his upbringing with deaf parents and his fluency in sign language. I'm glad they did go with him in the end. He put a lot of heart into it.
I read some more into the movie after, with some saying its portrayal of auditory devices isn't necessarily accurate and has a negative spin on it. It's not for me to comment on as I am not deaf or aware of how these devices are. But I feel like a movie like this had to be made in depth about noise exposure and hearing loss, as well as the struggle of acceptance with it.
If you are going to watch it, please be careful about having it at a loud volume. The sound design is fantastic in portraying acoustic trauma. Still, there are a few scenes that include ringing that spiked my own tinnitus even having it played soft on my phone
I might even put timestamp warnings in later if anyone's interested.
I would love to see a movie in a similar tone about tinnitus and/or hyperacusis being made in Hollywood. It is not just a minor character plot point or used as an effect in action sequences, but a story surrounding it is similar to Ruben's. Seeing & hearing the character's POV with the noise in their ears, the struggles of appealing to doctors for treatment, and the world is inaccessible with the harshness of noise. I am aware of films like A Star is Born and Baby Driver, but I feel like this topic deserves its own dedicated spotlight for awareness's sake. Or at least to portray the very real suffering some go through with this in depth.
It's a depressing watch but an excellent one, at least!
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