Part of the poster of “Rewind.”

Liquor firm executive John Nunez (Dingdong Dantes) and his wife Mary (Marian Rivera) had been childhood sweethearts. When their son Austin was born, Mary gave up her promising career as a chef to become a full-time housewife. As the stresses at work increased, John became very busy, always on his phone, hardly having any spare time to spend with his family. He also became irritable and hot-headed, so people are tense around him.

One night, the retirement announcement of John’s boss and godfather Sir Hermie (Ariel Ureta) totally did not go as John wanted. A drunk John angrily confronted the old man, and arrogantly declared that he wanted to quit his job. The next day was a big event for Austin (Jordan Lim) — the presentation of a play which he wrote and composed songs for. As John and Mary were arguing in the car along the way to school, the unthinkable happened.

When I saw the trailer, it felt like one of those Korean time-travel dramas or Hollywood “Groundhog Day” time-loop type of films. “Rewind” was not exactly like those, but the story was still familiar — a character will get to re-live one critical day all over again, as the title suggested. How that miraculous phenomenon would come to pass was as Filipino as it gets, although it would depend on a viewer’s religion if they would buy it or not.

The fact that Dingdong Dantes and Marian Rivera were a real-life married couple made their onscreen love and chemistry effortless. It also made the marital troubles John and Mary were experiencing much tougher and more heartbreaking to watch. The way they played their heavy tragic scenes felt so intensely real, acting citations are forthcoming. It was their affecting performances that gave this film its special radiance beyond its familiar plot.

This was still a Pinoy melodrama at heart, with several familiar ingredients in the mix — an estranged father (Lito Pimentel), a well-meaning mother-in-law (Coney Reyes), a sexy temptress at work (Sue Ramirez), a “maritess” employee (Pamu Pamorada), and an over-eager sidekick (Joross Gamboa). And then, there is the mysterious school electrician Jess (Pepe Herrera), whom kids called “Lodz” (a nickname I am not exactly a fan of).

Writer Enrico Santos wrote both “Rewind” and “Mallari” for this MMFF, both vying to top the festival box-office. The way he wrote husband-wife arguments can hit hard with married viewers. Director Mae Cruz-Alviar skillfully built up scenes to generate maximal emotional impact at their climax. The character of Lodz can be very tricky (and may even feel irreverent for conservative Christians), but Cruz-Alviar handled this aspect with sensitivity. 7/10.