What makes a screen adaptation stand on its own rather than just serving the source?

There's something genuinely interesting about the moment when an adaptation stops feeling like a translation and starts functioning as its own distinct work, where the cinematography, pacing, or performance choices aren't compensating for the original but actually doing something the original couldn't. What technical or craft elements do you think tend to drive that shift? Is it usually editing rhythm, visual language, a particular directorial approach? Curious whether people think it's more about what gets stripped away or what gets added.