Depeche Mode have announced that Depeche Mode: M, a new feature-length concert film directed by acclaimed Mexican filmmaker Fernando Frías, will be released in cinemas and IMAX theaters worldwide on October 28, 2025. The film captures Depeche Mode’s three sold-out shows at Mexico City’s Foro Sol Stadium in September 2023 – part of their extensive Memento Mori tour – and serves as a cinematic tribute to the band’s profound connection with the Mexican fanbase. Following its premiere at the Tribeca Festival in June 2025, Depeche Mode: M is slated for a limited theatrical run as a global event, screening in over 2,500 cinemas across more than 60 countries.
Rather than a conventional concert documentary, Depeche Mode: M is described as an “expressive and dynamic cinematic” journey, intertwining live performance footage with deeper thematic explorations. Director Fernando Frías employs dramatic interstitial scenes and archival material to explore the parallels between the band’s music and Mexican cultural reflections on death and mortality. This creative approach resonates strongly with the subject matter: Memento Mori (Latin for “remember that you must die”) was the title of Depeche Mode’s 2023 album and tour, and the film’s themes carry added poignancy given the passing of founding member Andy Fletcher in 2022 Frías himself has framed the project as a “unique journey into the heart of Mexican culture’s relationship with death, framed by the iconic live performances of Depeche Mode.” In other words, the film uses the band’s electrifying Mexico City shows as a lens to celebrate Mexican traditions surrounding mortality and to illustrate how music can bridge cultures in the face of life and death.
Frontman Dave Gahan underscores the film’s human and cultural focus. “At its core, our new film, M, is about the deep connection between music, culture, and people — and Fernando Frías, who directed and conceived the film, did a beautiful job telling that story through the lens of Mexican culture and our shows in Mexico City.”
Back in June, during the Tribeca Festival premiere of Depeche Mode: M, Dave Gahan recalled what it feels like when he’s lost in the performance — a state New York Magazine film critic Bilge Ebiri compared to “the whirling dervishes of Konya, Turkey — carried away by the spirit and the music.”
Gahan agreed, reflecting on the thin veil between life and death when you’re truly present on stage: “Life and death are so close… when you’re performing on stage — and I’m sure Martin would agree — it’s a moment. You’re really in the moment. And at the end of the day, that’s all we really do have, right?”
Ebiri noted that the film captures that tension, not just through its concert footage but also its interwoven visual narratives: “There’s this sense that we’re all kind of hovering between life and death, and the music captures that. You often sing about dark subjects, but you make people dance to that darkness — and I think the film does that too. The connection to the Day of the Dead really reinforces that.”
Gahan agreed: “Yeah, there’s a playful aspect to death. Of course there is.”
Director Fernando Frías has also shared his vision for M, emphasizing how the film is not just a concert record but a cultural conversation. By blending the band’s performance with Mexico’s rich traditions (such as Día de los Muertos), Frías aimed to create a “powerful tribute to the unbreakable connection between music, tradition and the human spirit”. This thematic ambition builds on Depeche Mode’s legacy of innovative concert films – for example, Spirits in the Forest (2019) intertwined live footage with fans’ personal stories – and takes it a step further by marrying the band’s global influence with local cultural context.
Tickets will go on sale September 17 via the film’s official website, where fans can sign up for local screening alerts.
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