Lady Gaga’s latest music video shines a spotlight on Xochimilco’s eerie Island of the Dolls

So that’s the mystery behind Tim Burton’s presence in Xochimilco.

Lady Gaga has officially released her latest music video, and it’s every bit as haunting as fans imagined. Directed by none other than Burton himself, the video was filmed deep in the canals of Xochimilco, the historic southern borough of Mexico City. Earlier this year, Gaga and Burton were spotted wandering the area, sparking speculation about a project in the works. Now, the secret is out: the video ties into Netflix’s Wednesday, where Gaga steps into the role of Rosaline Rotwood, an enigmatic and legendary professor at Nevermore Academy — the gothic institution where Wednesday Addams sharpens her dark wit and talents.

The shoot unfolded on one of the region’s most unsettling landmarks, La Isla de las Muñecas (“The Island of the Dolls”). The island is a chinampa — a floating artificial island first developed by the Aztecs as a form of advanced agriculture. Even centuries later, chinampas remain in use, though this one has earned notoriety for reasons far removed from farming.

The Island of the Dolls is unlike any place on earth. Thousands of weathered, broken, and discolored dolls hang from trees, rooftops, and makeshift shrines, their glass eyes and cracked faces staring blankly at visitors. In 2022, Guinness World Records recognized the island as home to the world’s largest haunted doll collection — roughly 4,000 in total. The site’s origin story only adds to its chilling aura: decades ago, island caretaker Julián Santana claimed to have discovered the body of a drowned young girl in the waters nearby. Convinced her spirit lingered, he began salvaging dolls from trash heaps and canals, stringing them up around the island to appease her ghost and protect his harvests. For fifty years, until his death in 2001, he expanded the eerie collection. Today, his nephew Javier Romero Santa continues as caretaker, and he insists the supernatural remains active. “At night, we hear cries, or the sob of a young woman,” he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 2022.

Burton and Gaga tap directly into this legend in the video. It opens with Gaga emerging eerily from a wall, flanked by grimy, life-sized dolls, as though she herself were transforming into one of them. The scene blurs the line between art, myth, and nightmare, a signature of both Burton’s cinematic style and Gaga’s avant-garde performance.

Not everyone was pleased with the production. The Mexican digital outlet SDP Noticias suggested that Gaga might have drawn misfortune upon herself by physically handling some of the dolls during filming — a gesture many consider disrespectful and even dangerous, as the dolls are viewed as vessels for unsettled spirits.

The collaboration between Burton and Gaga had been foreshadowed earlier in the year. In June, Burton traveled to Mexico City to promote The Labyrinth, an immersive exhibition showcasing his iconic characters and gothic artistry. He also made time to tour the canals of Xochimilco, likely scouting the Island of the Dolls as the ideal setting for Gaga’s macabre vision. By early July, whispers of a video titled The Dead Dance began circulating, with outlets like Variety reporting sightings of the two artists filming in the area.

For Gaga, the video is also a return to Mexico, where she performed two sold-out concerts in April at Estadio GNP Seguros, reaffirming her bond with her Mexican fanbase.

The connection runs deeper still. Netflix’s Wednesday has strong Mexican roots woven into its DNA. Star Jenna Ortega brings her own Mexican and Puerto Rican heritage to the role, while the series acknowledges the Addams family’s cultural ties through Gomez Addams’ background. Its soundtrack incorporates beloved Mexican music, including the haunting ballad La Llorona and Un Mundo Raro by the late icon Chavela Vargas, underscoring the show’s fusion of gothic fantasy with Mexican tradition.

In blending Lady Gaga’s theatrical artistry, Tim Burton’s gothic lens, and the chilling folklore of Xochimilco’s Island of the Dolls, the video doesn’t just entertain — it creates a cultural event. It bridges music, myth, and television, ensuring that Mexico’s most haunted island will echo through pop culture for years to come.