WOW!
The protagonist has plenty stacked against him even before he begins dealing with tinnitus. He’s a tech nerd, and he’s queer, both of which have left him at odds with much of society and caused him to cocoon himself in a safe bubble universe of his own creation. This universe without peers provides no framework for morality, immersing the protagonist in a narcissistic hell he created and from which he cannot escape. The sound may well be the background of the wider world impinging on his solitude. As his mind begins to erode, the film’s visuals also become more grisly and disgusting, reminiscent of the time-lapse film of a dead animal decaying… the veneer of civilization melts off like rotting skin, revealing the bones of despair and urgent necessity underneath.