Streaming Spotlight by Cindy Summers
Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story – Hulu
Billy’s wife Susan felt he was lost for a while until beauty found him. Billy and Susan moved to the Scottish Shetland Islands, Britain’s last outpost before the Arctic, for a better life. It was where Billy was born and said he felt he had been away from for too long. They moved to an old house by the sea and started fixing it up, but before they knew it routine life caught up with them again.
One morning after a storm a starving young otter showed up on the pier. Otters were generally shy around humans, signaling she must have been very desperate. They had recently seen a mother otter killed on the road near their house, so assumed it was hers. She seemed vulnerable and alone, reminding Billy of a time in his life he felt that way so sought to help Molly.
Molly got stronger and began to spend more time with Billy greeting him on the pier and climbing into his boat. He made Molly a home under the rowboat where she could stay around and have appropriate shelter. Molly was a river otter that needed to regularly wash the sea water from her fur so Billy set up freshwater tubs and Molly liked to dry off by rolling around inside Billy’s coat.
That spring, Billy spent much of his free time fishing for Molly, though his wife Susan expressed wanting to get some haddock too. Molly was getting stronger by the day, though it was costing them a fortune. Billy knew Molly had to learn to fend for and feed herself, so he began spending time with her fishing in the seaweed just off shore.
Billy said it seemed like Molly had a switch in her head that all of a sudden she would just be off away to places unknown. While Billy was off at work, his wife Susan would follow Molly down the coast on her morning walks and knew Molly had a whole other life of her own, but kept that from BIlly, who seemed to want to think Molly was dependent upon him. Susan understood that they were just a small part of Molly’s life, but kept that from Billy.
Billy seemed to be getting back to working on their house, but his wife discovered he actually built a house for Molly, complete with pics of Billy, his wife and dog and a camera feed with alerts when Molly was inside. With winter on the way, Billy knew had to stop feeding Molly for her to adjust to the normal life of an otter. They went on one last morning boat ride where Molly climbed into the boat to greet Billy before she jumped out and swam away upriver.
Molly visited a few more times over the next couple of weeks, and then she disappeared for over 2 months. One stormy night Billy got an alert from the Molly Cam. When Billy went out to greet Molly she rolled in the snow like it was water, so happy to see Billy. Molly had a surprise for them all as she was pregnant and the little house made a perfect home for her to give birth to her baby.
Molly raised her cub in the tiny home for several months, and when it was time for them to leave, Billy got a wetsuit and snorkel and experienced Molly’s world with her. Billy realized through Molly that there was a whole other world to discover and connect to. This heartwarming documentary not only shares the unique relationship between a human and otter but also contains beautiful aerial footage of Molly in her natural environment and the breathtaking surrounding areas.
Runtime: 1h 17m
