---
name: "Michael Sarnoski"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/michael-sarnoski"
fi1m_id: "michael-sarnoski"
imdb_id: "nm3968825"
tmdb_id: 2580328
wikidata_id: "Q108101364"
roles: ["Director","Writer","Producer"]
reviewed_on_fi1m: 3
average_fi1m_score: 73
average_as: "director"
average_over: 3
updated: "2026-09-30T21:08:23.246826+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Michael Sarnoski

## Identity

Michael Sarnoski

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/michael-sarnoski
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** michael-sarnoski
- **IMDb ID:** nm3968825
- **TMDB ID:** 2580328
- **Wikidata ID:** Q108101364
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Sarnoski, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q108101364, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3968825/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/2580328

Director and writer. Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Director, Writer, Producer
- **Active:** 2021–present
- **Also known as:** The Sharnasky Brothers, The Sharnasky Bros.
- **Frequently works with:** [Alex Wolff](https://film.one/person/alex-wolff.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 73, as director, over 3 titles
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 73 to 71 across 3 titles
- **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 2, Thriller 2, Action 1, Adventure 1, Horror 1, Mystery 1
- **Screen time:** 5 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $270m across 3 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Sarnoski, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q108101364, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3968825/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/2580328

## Streaming the US now

- **Netflix:** [*A Quiet Place: Day One*](https://film.one/film/a-quiet-place-day-one.md) (70)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Michael Sarnoski

> Michael Sarnoski makes genre films that spend more time with troubled people than with the threats around them. We value his tenderness towards those people, though his scripts can keep them brooding after we have understood why.

In *A Quiet Place: Day One* (2024), New York’s horns and helicopter noise give way to breathing and a cat’s bell. Pat Scola shoots the street in flat midday light before falling ash turns the people into grey shapes. We flinched at the first attack because that sudden quiet makes every small sound seem dangerous. Sarnoski is also interested in Samira, played by Lupita Nyong’o, and her insistence on getting pizza. We like that attention to an ordinary appetite during an invasion: it gives us someone to care about before another creature arrives.

His feature debut, *Pig* (2021), written from a story co-written with Vanessa Block, had already turned a revenge premise towards quiet encounters. John Krasinski approached him for *A Quiet Place: Day One*, and Sarnoski brought that concern for human company into a franchise prequel. The result is our favourite of the first three films, with Nyong’o carrying a sad, tender two-hander. But the creatures remain dull, and the attacks grow repetitive in the second half.

His patience becomes a problem in *The Death of Robin Hood* (2026). Sarnoski, again writing and directing, gives Hugh Jackman an ageing outlaw whose remorse occupies more of the drama than it can sustain. Jodie Comer’s Sister Brigid supplies warmth and makes forgiveness seem possible for a man we have reason to distrust. Sarnoski gets tenderness from both leads, enough to make the film worth considering. Too many conversations, though, tell us how badly Robin feels without giving him another question to face.

Andrew Mondshein’s editing gives Robin’s reflection time to settle, then leaves it sitting for too long; Jim Ghedi’s music cannot make the repeated regret develop into something new. Sarnoski needs to let a conversation change what his characters want, rather than simply confirm what hurts them. We would not ask him to lose the tenderness, which is the reason to follow his work. Start with *A Quiet Place: Day One* for Nyong’o and the unnerving use of silence, with modest expectations of the monsters.

## Biography

Michael Sarnoski is an American filmmaker. He wrote and directed the drama *Pig* (2021), starring Nicolas Cage, and the horror film *A Quiet Place: Day One* (2024).

Sarnoski made his feature directorial debut with *Pig*, which was released by Neon. He was subsequently hired by John Krasinski to write and direct *A Quiet Place: Day One*, a prequel in the franchise. His next project is *The Death of Robin Hood* (2026).

For *Pig*, Sarnoski received the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay and the National Board of Review Award for Best Directorial Debut.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org.*

## On Fi1m (3)

- *The Death of Robin Hood* (2026), Fi1m 66, Director, Writer, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/the-death-of-robin-hood.md)
- *A Quiet Place: Day One* (2024), Fi1m 70, Screenplay, Story, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/a-quiet-place-day-one.md)
- *Pig* (2021), Fi1m 82, Story, Screenplay, Director, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/pig.md)

## Complete filmography (12)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *The Death of Robin Hood* (2026), Writer, Director, Executive Producer — Fi1m 66, [page](https://film.one/film/the-death-of-robin-hood.md)
- *A Quiet Place: Day One* (2024), Director, Screenplay, Story — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/film/a-quiet-place-day-one.md)
- *Pig* (2021), Executive Producer, Story, Director, Screenplay — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/pig.md)
- *The Testimony* (2015), Executive Producer, Editor
- *Coffee Break-Up* (2015), Editor
- *That* (2012), Editor, Director, Writer, Producer
- *Fight Night Legacy* (2011), as The Doctor · Co-Producer, Writer, Editor, Director, Boom Operator, Director of Photography
- *The Other Side* (2011), Director of Photography, Editor, Writer
- *Rings* (2011), Producer, Writer, Director, Editor
- *Love of the Dead* (2011), Director, Writer, Editor
- *Death Stranding*, Director, Writer
- *The Chain*, series, Director, Executive Producer

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/michael-sarnoski