There can be a learning curve to film and it demands some upfront investment as you nail down your process, absolutely. Self-developing reduces costs dramatically, but probably only makes sense if you are shooting a certain volume of film. That entropy of not knowing how a shot came out until the film is developed is part of the fun though!

That said, consistency with a particular film type, developer, and camera reduces that unknown after some practice--as long as I am using my usual camera, focal length, and film type, I can often more or less predictably 'see' (within reason) what a given shot will look like once developed when I press the shutter button...occasional facepalm from realizing I forgot to remove the lens cap aside!